Story 8: Conflict Resolution
by Bluey 123
Summary: TIVA... TIVA... TIVA... After Tony betrays Ziva's trust they have a hard road to travel to get back on track. A surprise alone the way makes their decision even harder.
1. Chapter 1

**_If you haven't read my stories before you might not understand some of this. You are welcome to start readind here, but to find out brought us to this point read my other stories. Just go to my profile page and click on my first story "he's not my brother" all my stories so far are linked. To find out why TOny and Ziva are fighting at least read my last story "Blast from the past."_**

**_Well done to those who have read all my stories and stuck with me through the good and the bad. Thanks for your ongoing support. Keep the reviews coming. always love feedback._**

**_Happy reading.... and reviewing_**

Chapter 1

Ziva pried her eyes open. She couldn't believe her alarm was sounding already. Was it really morning? She pushed her legs over the side of the bed. She didn't want to get up but her Mossad training would not have allowed her to give in to her weaknesses and emotions. She grabbed her sweats and began to dress for her morning run. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and tied her long straight hair in a pony tail. She neatened her room slightly, packed a bag with clothing for the day and then walked out the front door, putting the 'ready for cleaning' door hanger over the knob.

It had been inconvenient being further away from where she liked to run but she made do, and would shower and change quickly at work instead of going all the way back to the hotel.

Running gave Ziva time to think. Feeling the crisp morning breeze against her face reminded her she was alive and healthy, and that was something to be thankful for in a world were it seemed nothing would even be normal or happy again. Each day she pushed herself to run a little further, a little harder, but her body couldn't handle much more. The stress and lack of sleep meant she was worn down and this aggravated her.

As she jogged she'd run through all the awful things in her head. The kiss in the car. The path of cloths that lead Ziva's eyes right to the sight of another woman on top of her half naked husband. This thought always made her run faster, it was as if she thought running faster would allow her to leave that awful memory behind her.

It had been two weeks since the incident. The case was closed and thankfully Miriam hadn't shown her face at NCIS since that night. Ziva had refused to allow this to force her to leave NCIS or America. This was her home and she wasn't giving it up without a fight. It had been difficult sitting across from Tony day in and day out but she had reverted back to her cold, impenetrable exterior and nothing was getting through that. She worked like a machine, showing no sign of emotion, even though deep down her heart broke every time she saw his sad, concerned face. He'd tried to talk to her several times but she had told him in no uncertain terms that she was not ready to talk with him about it and that NCIS headquarters was hardly the place to have that conversation anyway. Apart of her was dying to feel his hand run across her bare skin, up her neck and clutch her face as he kissed her and explored her body, she wanted him to make her moan and scream like he used to. She yearned for him, throbbed for him. But her will power was far stronger then any need such as sex.

She had to give him credit. Tony had been trying hard to make things right and convince her he had no desire for that banshee, but he'd still allowed her into their apartment, he'd allowed her into a position where he was vulnerable after Ziva had made her concern about Miriam more then well known.

Would she take him back? She didn't know. She knew she couldn't think of anyone else in the same way, and no one had fit her so well in so many ways before. There was no denying she still loved him, but would that be enough to repair the broken trust between them? Love was not always a kind being, it was often a merciless beast prepared to torment and destroy if it got the opportunity. Ziva had often thought of love as a rot wheeler. Given the right nurturing and care it would be loyal and warm, but turn your back too long and it would attack your throat without a second thought.

Affairs of the heart were never Ziva's strong point. Knifes and cargo pants she knew, but love was a mystery she found troubling. Anything she could not master, could not control and needed to rely on someone other then herself was daunting for Ziva.

At the end of her run she collapsed on the grass in front of her car. She sat there, breathing deeply, her legs aching. She looked at her watch, she'd taken another 5 minutes today, how could that be when she'd pushed herself so hard? Two months ago she was able to do the same run in an hour, now it was taking an hour and 18 minutes, this did not impress her. Not only did it mean she was slowing down, it also meant she was getting later and later to work.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva rushed into the squad room, she was wearing her standard uniform, pants and a light knit sweater. She held her brush in her right hand, untangling her wet hair as she strode into the bullpen. Tony looked at her. He was always excited to see her, but at the same time, it hurt him that she still wasn't home with him, that he was still sleeping on the couch in front of a DVD because it didn't seem right to sleep in their big bed without her.

An IM appeared on Ziva's screen opening it she read. "I miss you." She looked up at the sender, he kept his head down, but glanced up with his eyes, seeing the smile on her face forced a half smile on his. He returned back to his work, keeping true to his vow not to pressure her. No one in the office really knew what to think about what was going on. They knew Ziva wasn't staying with any of them but didn't know she was staying at a hotel, they just assumed she was back with Tony and trying to work it out. Another message came through. "I put some more of clothes in a pack behind your desk." Ziva turned around in her chair and spied the backpack Tony was talking about, and turned back to her computer replying "Thank you Tony." He knew how much that meant coming from her. Plus it was the first IM she's returned to him since that night.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva made it home safely that night, she started to unpack the backpack Tony had put together for her. There was a clean set of underwear, a pair of pants, fresh socks and a few different tops for her to choose from. She pulled out the clothing, it smelt like him. She brought it up to her nose and took a large breath in imagining it was him she was smelling. When she looked down she saw that at the bottom of her bag was her photo of her and her siblings from when she was younger. With a post-it note attached to it saying 'I know you feel better knowing they are still close to you.' She sat on her bed, taking in his scent and looking at his kind thought. She picked up her phone and started to send a text. 'I will be running at 0500 hours.'

**_First chapter down. review and I'll update.... PROMISE!!!!!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys thanks for all the great reviews. Love reading them!! Keep them coming!!! As a result I have not done any work tonight, and instead have written my next chapter! I'll pay for it tomorrow, but right now i'm not caring.**_

Chapter 2

Another day, another run. Ziva had set her alarm clock for 20 minutes earlier this morning to help allow time for her slowness. It was even harder today to get her sore, tired body out of bed, and for the first time in her life she found herself wanting desperately to hit the snooze button on her alarm. She reached over and opening her eyes slightly, she turned it off. Her eyes opened wider as she saw the photo Tony had so carefully, lovingly placed in her bag. She picked it up and looked at it for a minute. She was so happy in the photo, so unsuspecting, so young and innocent. That feeling had not lasted long, however she had managed to regain it, or more truthfully, Tony had managed to make her feel that way again. A smile spread over Ziva's face, remembering how thoughtful Tony had been and the message she had sent. She quickly jumped out of bed and started to get ready for her jog.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She arrived at her usual running spot, she took a good look around, she had hoped so badly that Tony would be there. She took longer then usual to do her stretches wishing that Tony was just late. All she could see around her were a few joggers, open wide spaces and the trees that lined her jogging track. She sighed a little in disappointment and then headed down to the path to start her run. "About time you showed up Da-veed." She snapped her head around. Hidden behind a tree, two water bottles in hand, leaning against the thick trunk was a welcomed sight Tony stepped forward.

"I did not think you were here."

"You thought wrong. Come on, lets see if I can keep up with you."

They started jogging, side by side. They didn't need to talk. They both enjoyed the others company it was nice that they didn't feel like they needed to dwell on what happened.

After their run they sat propped up against Ziva's Mini Cooper.

"You've lost your touch Zee-vah, I didn't have a problem keeping up with you today."

"I was going easy on you, I did not think I should break you."

"Hah! You did not."

"We should go, we need to have a shower before we start work. You especially. You stink Di-Noz-zo."

"You know, you could always come home to have a shower." Ziva paused. One single comment had brought her tumbling straight back to reality.

"I do not think that would be a good idea Tony.

"Do you think you'll ever come home?"

"I do not know. You hurt me Tony, and you said you never would."

"I wish it had never happened. I never wanted it to happen, any of it."

"I know, but you knew my concerns and you still allowed yourself to get into situations where it was possible."

"and that was stupid of me. I want more then anything for you to be able to trust me again." He stood up and put his hand out to help her up. She took it and stood in front of him. She looked down at the ground, carefully considering her reply.

"right now Tony I trust you with my life. I have to be able too. But I can't trust you with my heart right now." She pulled out her keys and fiddled with them for a second before she turned and walked round the car and got in. She started the engine but there was a tap at the window. She used the electric controller next to her to roll it down.

"I still love you Ziva." He stood up and took a step back from the car and watched as she drove away.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This time Ziva sat at her desk. She was finishing putting her boots on when Tony walked into the squad room. He sat at the desk opposite her. He started his computer and opened a file on his desk reading it. a few minutes later an IM appeared on Ziva's screen. 'Thanks for letting me tag along this morning.'

She replied 'That is alright, tomorrow I will strike you.' Tony just laughed and said "I think you mean beat, thrash, whip. You choose."

"Morning all." McGee called as he walked into the bull pen. "Breakfast Burritos, Tony, ham cheese and egg." he pulled one out of the paper bag and through it towards him, "Ziva, one sausage, cheese and egg Burrito coming up."  
"Arh, yes, I have been hanging out for this." Ziva disappeared behind her desk, the boys peering at her strangely. She pulled out a tub of yogurt and a chocolate bar. The boys relaxed a little. It wasn't unusual for Ziva to eat yogurt, a chocolate at this time of the morning was strange, but they though nothing of it. They started to eat their breakfast and go on with their work. When they next looked up, Ziva had peeled the lid of her yogurt, dunked her chocolate bar in it and was busy re-wrapper her burrito with her concoction inside. She smiled and took a big bite out of it.

"That's discussing" she heard Tony say. She looked up just in time to see the looks of horror on her co-workers faces.

"What?" she cried. Tony and McGee both threw their breakfast into their waste paper bins.

"Funny, I don't feel hungry anymore." Tony commented trying to keep what ever breakfast he had eaten down.

"I do not see what is so wrong about my breakfast. But suit yourselves."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva reached across again. Reluctantly she climbed out of bed. She wondered if Tony would be joining her for their jog this morning, that was all the motivation she needed to grab her gear and leave the hotel.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I thought you weren't going to make this easy for me. Come on Dav-eed where's this beating you were talking about?"

Ziva pushed herself. She couldn't let on that she was already running at full strength. She pulled out all her energy, all her strength and used it to get in front of him. She had to push herself hard, harder then she'd ever had to before, and even then she still wasn't advancing as much as she'd like. She could see her car, she was almost back to where they had started. She didn't need to make it much further. She kept her eyes on her car, and just kept running as fast as her legs could possibly take her. She could feel it hurting, burning, with only meters left, she veered off the path and onto the grass, she ran behind a tree and doubled over.

When Tony caught up to her he found her vomiting behind a tree. He lovingly took her pony tail that was hanging over her shoulder held it out of the way while he rubbed her back till she stopped.

"What's all that about?"

"I must have pushed myself too hard."

"Ziva, you weren't exactly running at full speed, you're usually miles in front of me."

"I have not been sleeping well lately, my body is weak."

"Maybe we should take you to the doctor." Ziva took the bottle of water out of Tony's hand and took a drink to try and remove the foul taste in her mouth.

"We can not be late for work."

_**Anyone get where this is all going????? **_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Do I have something on my face? Why do you keep looking at me?" Ziva asked

"Well, yeah, actually you've got a zit but I'm not looking at that."

Ziva started to get irritated. Tony's eyes had barely left her direction all day and she was sick of being monitored so closely. She craved her independence and although she knew he was concerned and trying to be sweet, she needed to get away from him, just for a short while. She stood up and moved towards the bathroom to check her face. It was true, she did have a zit. "Must be all that chocolate I've been eating recently." She mumbled to herself. She played with it for a second then exited the bathroom and made her way down to Abby's lab.

"Abby?" she called walking into the music filled lab, the gothic scientist was no where to be seen. "Abby?" she called again. From behind her she heard...

"Man you guys have got to get a case. I had to go and get my own caf pow!" Abby walked into her lab behind her. "what's up Ziva?"

"I have a zit, and need to hide from the world till it goes away."

"Or you can just cover it." Abby opened her desk draw and pulled out a bag full of eyeliners and blood red gloss. Fossicking around in there she eventually pulled out some concealer and powder and handed them to Ziva.

"I do not use this."

"You've never worn make up?"

"Of course I have I just do not wear a lot and I have never had to cover anything." Abby's eyes lit up. This was too good an opportunity to let up. She stood up, turned Ziva around and sat her on the chair.

"What are you doing?"

"Just…. covering your zit."

Abby got to work covering Ziva's zit and the rest of her face, apparently to make it all blend properly.

"Arh, what is that?"

"Eye-liner."

"I know I do not know a lot about make up but I do not think you need that to cover a zit."

"May I remind you that I could kill you and not leave any forensic evidence?"

"May I remind you of my crazy Ninja ways?"

"Good point, but I'm doing it anyway… now look up." Ziva sighed and let her get to work, she had nothing better to do anyway. Besides, it was kinda nice to do what she assumed was female bonding.

"You know, I'm glad you and Tony are sorting stuff out. You guys are so perfect together."

"Well we…" Ziva paused "We are… working on it."

"What was with that stutter?"

"What stutter?"

"You paused and then there was a stutter. What aren't you telling me Ziva David-DiNozzo?"

"Nothing."

"Your not still staying with Gibbs are you?"

"No."

"McGee?"

"No!"

"Ducky, Palmer? Vance???"

"I am not staying with anyone Abby."

"So then you're back home with Tony? And your working it all out right?" Ziva couldn't look at her.

"W-well we are trying to work things out."

"Oh my God. Your fidgeting and your stuttering, what aren't you telling me? Where have you been sleeping?" Abby whined.

"At a hotel." In Abby's rage, sadness, distress, she stood up quickly, accidently knocking Ziva's chest as she went. Ziva clutched herself and yelped in pain. "

"Sorry, but this…." Abby paced in front of her. This is terrible. I mean, you guys are… you're Tony and Ziva, you're…. Tiva!!"

"Tiva?"

"Sure all the important people get to blend names. "Tom-Kat, Brangalina, why not you?"

"Because we are not famous?"

"Sure you are. Your love story should be famous, it should be written down and read to children like a fairy tale, well not children, I mean, have you read some of those fairy tales? I mean they are seriously scary and why is the evil person always a woman?"

"I do not know."

"Well we should, we should look into that." Ziva stood up, and stopped Abby from pacing, placing her hands on her shoulders and looking into Abby's eyes.

"You do not need to worry Abby. Tony and I will work it out."

"Do you promise?"

"Of course I do. Now I should really go and get on with some work." And with that Ziva walked out of the lab. Abby sniggered.

"Don't forget about the make up Officer David." She said, making sure it was not loud enough to be heard.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva entered the bull pen.

"What happened to you?" Tony's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"You. You're…."

"You look like Abby," McGee finished Tony's thought."

"Thank you Probie. You do you look like Abby."

"Oh," Ziva stopped and remembered her make-over. "Abby was just… I mean…"

"I like it." Tony said, mesmerised.

"I am sure you do." Ziva had to admit, she like the attention. She missed being lusted over. She wanted Tony so badly, but the thought of him wanting her even more was ecstasy.

"You should get zits more often if this is what happens."

"are you saying I am not as attractive normally Tony? That you only find me attractive when my face is covered." She knew he didn't, she just wanted to make him squirm and feel a little guilty.

"No… No…."

"Oh really well…"

"Ziva, Ducky wants to see you up in autopsy, wants an assassins point of view." Gibbs called as he walked into the bull pen.

"Yes Boss." And with that Ziva sheepishly dashed off to visit autopsy.

"I'll come with you, I need to check something with Ducky anyway." McGee called as he tried to catch up with her.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Good afternoon Doctor Mallard." Ziva greeted him as she walked into Autopsy.

"Arh, Good afternoon my dear." Ducky turned to look at Ziva, he paused, "this would be your doing wouldn't it?" He said refering to Ziva's face as he turned to Abby.

"Yep." Abby gleefully stated.

"Arh and Timothy, always a pleasure."

"You wanted me to look at something Ducky?"

"Yes my dear. I was just filling Abby in on the case Special Agent Watkins is working on." While Ducky divulged the details of the case Palmer walked into the room.

Ziva stopped listening put her head up and paused for a second. Everyone looked at her, she ran to the near by sink once again throwing up the contents of her stomach.

"What's wrong my dear?"

"You have food in there, don't you palmer?" Ziva asked.

"Arh… no." Jimmy lied "You're not allowed to bring food into Autopsy." he pointed out.

"You do, you have bacon." Ziva stated clearly.

Abby opened Palmers bag and pulled out a package wrapped in alfoil. Unwrapping it slightly revealed a toasted BLT sandwich. Ziva looked at it and threw up again.

"Get rid of it Mr Palmer," Ducky demanded, and with that the autopsy gremlin left the room.

"jeeze Ziva, you throw up at the smell of bacon, yet you can down a yogurt covered chocolate bar wrapping in your sausage burrito?" McGee asked.

Abby gasped and pulled Ziva aside. "Ziva are you pregnant?"


	4. Chapter 4

_**hey guys. loving some of your reviews.... Yes most of you seem to have gotten it!!! Some of you from memory started getting the clues at the end of Omissions. Well done to those of yu who did!!!**_ _**But is she really pregnant?**_

Chapter 4

"Abby! No I am not pregnant."

"How do you know? have you done a test or something?"

"Well, no, but that is just something I would know."

"Come on Ziva, your crazy food choices…"

"Arh, arh, arh," Ziva shook her finger in disagreement. "it was once, the yogurt and chocolate burrito was once, and it wasn't that bad."

"what about the sour worms in ice-cream?"

"Tony told you about that? And you remembered? I didn't even remember that."

"...and this morning when I knocked you as I stood up… you've come up against some pretty big guys Ziva, you've been pretty seriously hurt before but no one has really been able to tell how much pain you've been in. But I brush past your chest and that's when you scream out in pain?"

"I did not scream!"

"You screamed Ziva."

"So?"

"So you've got sensitive breasts Ziva. It's another symptom of pregnancy."

"You are crazy Abby."

"Ziva, you have tender breasts, you have strange cravings and your throwing up at the smell of food."

Ziva gave Abby her patented 'I love you but your crazy' look. "I am sure I am not," and with that Ziva slid past Abby and left her suspicious and perplexed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As the day went on, Ziva became more concerned about Abby's accusation. Like most women in this position Ziva kept telling herself that she wasn't pregnant, that she couldn't be pregnant. However Ziva couldn't help but wonder. Was it possible? And what would happen if she was? What would happen between her and Tony, would they get back together just for the child and be eternally unhappy? Or would the child resent them for not being together? Would it be easier to raise a child back in Israel? If she did that Tony might not even need to know. It seemed insane that in the same second she could be convincing herself she wasn't pregnant she was also preparing herself for the fact she could be. She had been throwing up a lot recently, but it was the food poisoning from the cafeteria at the hospital, the shock of her husband betraying her and the lack of sleep taking its toll on her and weakening her body. Her lack of sleep and needing to go to the bathroom all the time, it was starting to make sense. She found it curious that she could amit that there was a possibility and be speculating about her future and her child's yet she was adamit that it was all in her head and there was no way she really could be.

"What?" Tony asked growing tried of her starring at him. He couldn't work out what the deep in thought looks were all about, and why they'd suddenly appeared. It concerned him that he wasn't able to read her, he had no idea what she was thinking.

"what?" Ziva replied.

"that was my question. What are you thinking? Oh god, I don't have something on my face do I?" Tony spun around on his chair and grabbed the mirror he stored in his filing cabinet. "What? What is it? where is it?" Tony turned back around to look to Ziva for guidance. He was surprised to see that she had moved, instead of sitting behind her desk she was sitting on his. He lowered the mirror and a smile grew on his face. Ziva hadn't been this close to his desk in a long time. She rarely moved out from behind hers. "Well hello there stranger." She looked at him, not really knowing what to think, but giving him a dirty look.

"I simply do not see why you are so vain."

"I'm not vain."

"you are Tony." McGee butted in

"Stay out of this McNosy." turning his attention back to Ziva he continued, "So what can I do for you?"

She looked at Tony slyly "nothing." She said as she sauntered back to her desk a bounce in her step to drive him wild. She couldn't help but turn her head slightly to see if he was looking. He was, and that made her happy. She sat down behind her computer, contemplating what her life would be like as a mother and imagined two scenarios, one with Tony, and one without. There was no denying that she loved him, that she needed him, and that he would be a fantastic father, but would she be going back to him just for the baby? Or would she be going back out of love. She almost had to slap her face, and remind herself she couldn't be pregnant. She sat and watched Tony work, she loved to watch him concentrate, he looked so serious and so genuine.

She started to type, 'what are you having for dinner tonight?' she typed into an IM box. She heard Tony's computer chime alerting him to the message and couldn't help but smile herself when she saw how happy it made him to receive a message from his beautiful wife. 'I was going to have Sweet and Sour Pork, I can pick up something extra if I think I might be having company,' he replied. Ziva nearly gagged at the thought of pork, after smelling that bacon today she didn't want anyone around her to touch anything that wasn't kosher like pork. Seeing Ziva's reaction, Tony quickly changed his mind. 'I could make you something else, anything you like.' Ziva sat and contemplated for a minute, while Tony watched and waited eagerly for her reply. Finally she started to type and Tony waited with baited breath to see what she would say. 'I will come round after dinner. We will take it from there.'

Tony broke the silence, "You mean it?"

Ziva just smiled in his directions and nodded her head "I will be there at 9."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva finished putting her clean clothes on. She straightened her hair and wore it loose then. She looked at herself in the mirror of her hotel room. She glanced down to the pregnancy test and considered more symptoms she had displayed, she'd been desperate for sex, she couldn't say she had received her monthly reminder that she wasn't pregnant and she had a pimple, she never got pimples. She opened the draw and pushed the box into it. She wasn't ready to find out, she needed to know what she thought first. What she wanted to do about Tony.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Review Review... helps me work faster!!!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ziva stood on the outside of her apartment. She traced the gold numbers with her index finger. She remembered when they'd first moved in there, well more to the point, when she'd moved into his place, making it theirs. It had seemed so normal, so natural, so simple, but now she looked at the same door with in trepidation. Finally after a few minutes she took a deep breath, she knocked three times.

The knock at the door was like a defibrillator starting Tony's heart beating after weeks of being dormant. He jumped to action. He straightened the cushions as he darted through to the door, making sure everything was perfect as he went. He put his hand over the door nob and taking one last glance around the room to make sure it was perfect for her, he twisted the handle and threw open the door.

She stood waiting, she couldn't help but think that for a man who had seemed so eager for her to come back to her he was taking his time to open the door. Fear and dread started to take over her body, she wasn't sure she could handle rejection. She became petrified. She couldn't help but feel weak and petrified which were not feelings she could tolerate. She had to regain control, the only way she knew how was to walk, walk quickly away from that door and everything that was on the other side. She turned and started to walk away.

"Ziva?" Tony called from the doorway, "Where you going?" She stopped dead in her tracks, his voice, she loved his voice and it's ability to make a serious conversation lovingly light-hearted. She turned on her heels and faced him, a smile grew on her face. "You coming in?" He asked. She simply nodded her head slightly and walked towards him. Tony stood side on allowing her to pass through the threshold and back into his life.

Ziva surveyed her home. She expected it to be messy and unkempt, but it wasn't. There wasn't a pizza box in sight, not a beer bottle or a dirty sock. She really was impressed, mind you it didn't surprise her when she spied one of those dirty socks stuffed behind a cushion when she sat down. "You want a drink?" Tony asked as he closed the door and walked into the living room. Ziva's phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw Abby's name, before picking up she answered Tony, "Yes, thank you." As Tony exited the lounge room and into the a joining kitchen Ziva flipped her phone open. "Now is not a good time for me Abby." She paused obviously listening to what her friend had to say. "No I haven't… I do not plan on doing so... Because I am not... I need to work things out first Abby." In amidst her angry, hushed argument Tony called from the kitchen…

"I got a pretty fancy bottle of Cham-pagne shall I pop the cork?" he called loudly in a bad fake accent.

Before Ziva could reply Abby started yelling down the phone, Ziva had to move it away from her ear she was so loud. Still waiting for a reply, Tony walked back into the living room "Of course I will not drink it Abby." So consumed with her attempt to sooth Abby and get her off the phone, Ziva didn't notice Tony had entered the room. By the time she looked up, Tony's hands had dropped to his side and his eyes were wide. "Abby… Not now. I will have to call you back." Without even listening to her shrill rebuttal, Ziva shut her phone quickly and stood up moving hastily towards Tony. "Tony?" she questioned. He just looked at her with bewilderment on his face. "DiNozzo, what is wrong?"

Tony moved over to the couch, he reached behind the cushion on the other side of the sofa and pulled out a half empty bottle of scotch. He unscrewed the lid and took a large drink straight out of the bottle. "Is it true?" he asked. Now it was Ziva's turn to be feel perplexed. Seeing the confusion on her face he asked again, this time with more force behind his statement. "Is. It. True?"

"Is what true Tony?" she asked him to clarify.

"Abby, Is what she said true?"

"You could hear her?"

"Of course I could hear her, the Aborigines in Australia probably heard her."

"What exactly do you think you heard?" She said hoping that this would be one of those classic moments fromone of Tony's beloved movies, where he had actually heard something much different, and it was all a complete mess due to a lack of communication.

"I may not be a genious, I might not have Gibb's uncannie hearing, but I do have ears Ziva, and Abby was telling you not to drink because of the baby. What baby?"

"Tony… I…"

"What Baby Ziva?" he yelled. Ziva looked almost timid. He was shocked by this, but he refused to let it go. "Ziva are you…" she bowed her head.

"I do not know."

"Well don't you think that's something you aurter know."

"It is not that simple Tony."  
"What's so hard? Peeing on a stick isn't exactly something you'd have to be an Einstein to work out."

"It is not that part that I have an issue with."

"Well what part is it? and why wouldn't you tell me that?"

"I do not know. I am confused, I do not know what to think anymore."

"What is there to be confused about? You're either pregnant or your not."

"It is not as simple as you would make out."

"Why? Why is it not as simple Ziva? What could possibly be making it be complicated?"

Ziva stared at him for a few seconds. She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. She knew it would devastate him and although she still wasn't sure exactly if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him or not, one thing she did know for sure was that she did in fact love him and didn't want to cause him any pain or grief.

Tony became worried, he couldn't possibly conceive why Ziva was being so strange about all of this, He knew that she wasn't exactly a maternal person, but she'd changed so much since coming to America, and surely she would be able to see how loving and caring she had become.

Suddenly his face went pale, his eyes glazed over as if in a trace. He didn't' want to think it. It couldn't be true, though he didn't know what Ziva had been up to in the last few weeks, it could have been anything, and he wouldn't have known any better.

He could hardly bring himself to ask her. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know the answer, not if it was a bad answer that would almost defiantly spell doom for their marriage. Before asking it he took a deep breath and pondered what he would do if she gave him the answer he didn't want to hear. He couldn't bare the hypothetical any longer, it was killing him, he had to ask, it was his right to ask.

"Was there someone else? Is it mine?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Is it yours?" Ziva yelled back at him. "How many people do you think I sleep with?"

"I don't know, I don't know what to think. I mean what else would make this complicated?"

"Us. You and me. That's what makes it complicated."

"Why?"

"Because I am scared. I am scared that what ever choice I make about us will haunt me for the rest of my life as to whether of not I did it for me, or for the baby." Ziva feel down onto the couch and started to cover her eyes not wanting Tony to see the tears that were welling in her eyes.

"oh, well yeah, I guess I can kind of get that. But we're having a baby?"

"I do not know Tony."

"But Abby seems to think so?"

"Abby has put two and two together and got four."

"You mean five."

"I do not mean five. I know my English is not always so good, but I know what two plus two adds up to."

"It's a saying Ziva, you put two and two together and she's leapt to… you know what, that doesn't matter. We could be having a baby. I'll run down the street and get you a test." He said excitedly.

"I do not want you to get me a test Tony, I have one back at the hotel." she replied still angry at him.

"But you haven't done it?"

"no."

"Well why not?"

"I told you, I don't want to make a decision about our marriage based on if I'm pregnant or not. It should not matter."

"Well of course it matters. If you're pregnant."

"please try to understand. If I move back in here, it has to be because I trust you, not because I need a father for my child."

Tony was desperate for Ziva to come back to him, he didn't want to understand, he wanted for them to just go back to the way they were, and now with the possibility of them having a beautiful baby, he wanted more then anything for her to come home so he could share every second with her and their child, he had an overwhelming need to suddenly protect Ziva, and not let her lift anything for the rest of her pregnancy. The fact she could be pregnant meant that he loved her even more. Suddenly he realised, that was exactly why she needed time, and needed to make this decision without her thoughts being clouded by a third party. Instead of arguing with her and trying to persuade her to decide or at least take the test he merely said "ok, I'll wait for you. But you have to promise me something."

"What is that?"

"Until we know if I'm going to be a daddy you have to take things easy." Ziva just laughed. "I can not promise anything."

"Ziva?"

"Yes Tony?"

"DO you think you still love me." She paused for a long time, she knew exactly how her heart felt, but she didn't want to give Tony any false hope. She weighed up her options and then finally replied

"No." She looked at Tony's face and could see his heart breaking yet she couldn't wipe the smile of her face. "I don't think I love you, I know I love still love you. I just need to learn to trust you again."

"I'll do what ever you ask, what ever you want to prove myself."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva's alarm went off at 0500 hours again. She'd missed waking up with a smile on her face, but she hadn't realised it would have been missing all these weeks till she found it on her face, the morning after having a good night with Tony. She was thankful that she'd woken up in the hotel, there was no point rushing into a commitment after only one night of friendship. As she got ready for her jog she remembered how they'd sat on the couch and bickered over what channel they'd watch, then which DVD, and whether or not Tony's mimicking and quoting the movie lines was any good. It was like old times, even before the were a couple, when they were friends. What she had loved more though was the last half an hour of the movie when they sat in silence, or more to the point, Tony sat, and Ziva lay on the couch with her head on his shoulder, his hand stroking her hair as he chuckled at the movie. She had missed that, but just like the smile, it wasn't until she had found it again that she realised how much she needed it.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She drove up to the park for her morning run, her smile still as big as a Cheshire cats. She pulled into a parking bay, tied her hair into a pony tail, got out and started to stretch. As if in a day dream she started to jog down to her track completely oblivious that surrounding her was a city full of people who shared the same air she breathed. As she started to run this feeling slowly started to leave her as she realised that there was someone running next to her. She turned her head and there he was.

"I thought you said you'd try and take it easy." Tony stated inbetween breaths.

"I think I said I couldn't promise anything. Besides running would not hurt the baby."

"Fine, you can run, but you're running at my pace today. I don't think the park rangers want to be cleaning up you're puke again today."

"I can live with that."

It was as if nothing had changed between the two of them. They were happy and laughing and he was so loving and attentive. When they'd finished their run they again sat against Ziva's car while they attempted to get their breath back. "So you going into work to have your shower now?"

"I suppose. Thanks to you're… speed… we are now running very late."

"Oh Jeeze" Tony said as he looked at his watch. "Gibbs is going to kill us. I better get moving, I've still got to jog home."

He stood up and extended his arm to help her up. "You know, I could take you home." Ziva suggested. Tony was extatic at this prospect, but not wanting to seem too eager or pushy he simply replied…

"But then you'll be really late yourself if you have to drop me then turn back around to go to work and have a shower."

"Maybe I could dress at home."

Tony had picked it, she'd called their apartment home. That was something that not even he had considered it in some weeks, it could never be a real home without her.

On the car ride to the apartment they sat in silence, both completely excited about what could happen if Ziva allowed him back into her heart.

**_reviews!!!!_**

."


	7. Chapter 7

**_Sorry Sorry Sorry. I know. 10 or so days is way to long!!!! Crazy at work and would kill for a quiet weekend to just write._**

Chapter 7

"So you want first shower?" Tony asked trying to be gallant as they entered the apartment. Ziva sat on the arm of the couch and slid her joggers off.

Ziva considered for a second. "No, I think I will let you to take the first shower." Ziva stood up and began to head down the hall towards the bedroom and ensuite, as she walked she pulled her top over her head exposing her sweet, soft back to Tony, then she started to remove her running pants leaving her in nothing but her underwear.

"Hey I thought I was having first shower." Tony called rather puzzled.

"I still want you to Tony."

"Well then where are you…

"Who said their had to be a second?"

"Oh, OH, OHHH" The penny finally dropped and he raced after her disrobing as he went.

"Do not take to long Tony, I might change my mind."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Gear up, we've got a case." Gibbs greeted his agents as he walked into the bullpen. McGee, DiNozzo and DiNozzo-David all stood up hastily and started to assemble their packs.

"What's the case boss?" Tony asked.

"Dead marine. Found in her apartment in Edgewood."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The team where all at the crime scene, they had trekked up 4 flights of stairs due to the elevator being broken and as they ducked under the crime scene tape Gibbs started talking to a detective. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," He said as he flashed his badge. "What've we got?"

"Land lord heard shots go off about 30 minutes before we got here, called us straight away. When we arrived half an hour later this is what we found, when we saw the dog tags we called you guys. I have to tell you Gibbs we're completely backed up can I hand this case over to you?"

"yeah, we work better when we don't have to play with others anyway."

"I get that. We'll just get out of your hair then. If you have any questions, here's my card." Gibbs nodded and took the card, and the two cops and the detective left the room. Gibbs motioned with his hand for his team to move in. Tony measure and sketch, McGee, go knock on doors, find out if the neighbours heard anything. Ziva, photos, bag and tag." While everyone started their prescribed jobs. Ziva rummaged through the bags getting frustrated.

"Whenever you're ready Ziva." Gibbs said.

"Sorry but McGee forgot to restock the evidence bags. I'll have to go down to the truck and get some more." She stood and turned to leave the apartment. She made it to the door before Tony jumped up and stopped her.

"Hey," He said in his helpful jock manner. "I'll get them." He volunteered.

"I think I can go and get a few bags Tony."

"But what if you are…" he said in a hushed tone.

Ziva looked at Gibbs, who was examining the crime scene, to check he wasn't listening in. "I think I can handle a few stairs, besides, the smell in here is making me feel sick in the stomach." With that Ziva left the room, while Tony darted back to the body to try and appease his boss.

"Everything alright DiNozzo?" he asked pretending not to care.

"sure Boss, everything's fine."

"Good, Well do you think we'd be able to get some work done then." He said as more or a question then a statement.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva stepped out of the building. She'd never admit it to Tony, but she was tired after walking down all those stairs. She took a deep breath of fresh air and continued in her task to get more bags. As she stepped out of the truck Ziva bumped into McGee "Thought I might need some pens to write with."

"Always a good idea, almost as good as making sure you pack evidence bags so that Gibbs doesn't fire you." With that she allowed McGee to pass into the truck and took one more deep breath of clean, fresh air before she started the long walk back up to the crime scene that stank of death.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Boss, What do you make of this?" Tony asked pointing to a necklace that had been discarded on the ground. Gibbs took several photos then knelt down to take a closer look. From somewhere behind them they heard something. They both pulled out their guns and headed towards the direction they believed the noise came from, they moved down the hall and towards the kitchen, guns pointed. Tony saw something move and aimed his gun. "Arh, Jeeze, it was just the cat Boss." There, standing on the kitchen bench was a small black and white kitten looking terrified. "Cats, why do the chicks always have cats?" Both agents holstered their guns and began to relax, when suddenly they closet door next to the entrance crash open. Gibbs and DiNozzo ran down the hall and as they cleared the corner they saw a figure disappear out the door. DiNozzo was the first one to chase after him, he ran out the door and started down the stairs just in time to see Ziva doubled over on one of the landings throwing up into an evidence bag. "Ziva" He Yelled. "Watch out!"

Ziva looked up just in time to be bowled over by the mystry man who just kept running. Ziva tumbled down the stairs before finally stopping on the landing below. "ZIVA!" Tony cried out.

"DiNozzo, After him!" Gibbs called out.

But instead of listening he stopped and looked at his wife, he hesitated, not knowing what to do, continue the chase or stop to tender to Ziva. "DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled again. Tony looked up the stairs at his boss who was still making his way down, gun drawn.

"I can't she could be..."

"After him Tony!"

"Pregnant… Boss" Tony yelled back as Gibbs passed him.

"Arh Jeeze." Gibbs looked down the stairwell as he continued the chase and saw McGee walking back in. "McGee, Stop him." Gibbs called down. McGee pulled out his weapon and raced up to the first landing where he aimed his game at the running man.

"Stop, federal agent." He yelled. The man stopped, he turned to ran back up the stairs but stopped when he saw Gibbs blocking his path. McGee slapped his handcuffs on him and walked him away, downstairs to take him back to head quarters.

Once Gibbs was sure McGee had everything under control he move back to Tony and Ziva, Tony was on the phone. "Please hurry, she may be pregnant." He said hanging up from emergency services. "Come on Ziva, wake up for me baby."

_**Oh no!!!! Gibbs knows.... is Ziva pregnant? is she alright, if she is pregnant is the baby alright? What's Gibbs going to do?**_

_**read... review.... you know it makes me work faster!!!!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Sorry guys, June is the craziest times of the year for me with 8 major birthdays and work, I go nuts. bear with me while I'm a little slow to update, it will pick up in a few weeks. _**

**_enjoy_**

Chapter 8

"Come on Ziva. Fight it. Come back to me, Please. Come on babe, I love you, I need you, I'm nothing without you. Come on." As he continued begging her to come back to him, his voice became more and more desperate, Gibbs couldn't help but feel his pain.

"Step aside DiNozzo."

"No Boss."

"The paramedics are here, step aside." Tony looked around to see the paramedics coming up the stairs still staying close to her, he moved back slightly letting the men through. He watched as they fussed around her. In the background he could hear muffled voiced from Jethro and the paramedics. He could only assume Gibbs was filling them in on what happened, however, he couldn't make it out though of the haze, he couldn't stop staring at her. They picked her up and he followed her down the stairs. As they lifted her into the ambulance Tony stepped up but an arm blocked him, he looked at the paramedics face, then to his boss. The paramedics followed Tony's gaze and looked at Gibbs. "They're married," he stated and with that the arm lifted and Tony sat next to Ziva holding her hand and stroking her forehead. The ambulance started to move.

"She's pregnant, or she might be pregnant, did he tell you that?"

"Yes sir, he did."

"She's going to be alright, right? She'll be alright."

"She's concussed, you'll have to wait till she sees a doctor to find out anything else."

"The baby?"

"I'm sorry sir, but if she is pregnant it's too early for us to be able to tell. You'll just have to wait,"

"Wait? Come on, this is killing me."

"I can tell you her vitals are strong and the cut on her head was relatively superficial. You did the right thing by calling 911 and not trying to move her yourself, she could have spinal injuries with a fall like that."

Tony didn't respond to that, he was back to being too preoccupied by his wife lying motionless in front of him. He kissed her hand

"Come on Ziva, you're stronger then this."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony sat in the waiting room, hunched over. His forehead resting in his palms as he waited for any word on the condition of his… family. After all that is what Ziva was. His family, with child or not, she still meant more to him then anyone ever had, and more then anyone ever could. Finally the double doors of emergency opened and a tall man in a white coat came out. "Mr DiNozzo?" he questioned.

"Yeah, that's me. Please Doc, you gotta tell me she's alright."

"She is your wife?"

"Yeah,"

"She seems to be doing ok, no spinal injury, slight concussion, a few bumps and bruises but no permanent damage."

"Listen Doc…" Tony rubbed the back of his neck not sure how to say what he wanted to without sounding like an unsupportive husband. "There's a chance that she might be pregnant."

"There's no chance Mr DiNozzo."

"So she's not pregnant?" he asked, the depression and heartache evident in his voice.

"No, no chance, she's defiantly pregnant."

"She's pregnant? And the baby, is it alright?"

"It's early days, I'd say from the quick look I had that your wife is roughly 3 months pregnant. We can't say for sure but for now everything looks just fine."

"Thanks Doc, that's fantastic." Tony had never felt the over whelming coupling of relief and joy so strong before. "Can I go in and see her?" A nurse walked over and spoke quietly into the Doctor's ear. Tony tried to listen but with the surrounding clutter of the hospital meant he was unable to hear. Tony waited till the nurse disappeared trying to get a reading as to what was going on. "Is it Ziva? What's wrong?"

"You're going to make a good Father Mr DiNozzo, you're already extremely protective."

"Comes naturally in my line of work."

"arh yes, your both NCIS Special Agents."

"yeah, so she alright?"

"She's just waking up, I'll take you to her." With that the both disappeared behind the double doors.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Tony?" Ziva muttered her eyes still struggling to open. Tony who was sitting next to her holding her hand was relieved to hear that sweet voice.

"Hey there. How ya doing?"

"Been better."

"Arh, come on you've been worse."

"What about the… I mean, I."

"It's alright, I told the doctor."

"What did he say?"

"He said every part of you was fine, I'm not saying if your pregnant or not. Figured you still hadn't made up your mind about us. I want to do the right thing by you Ziva, and if not pushing and that means we don't talk about what I do or don't know."

"You know though?"

"Yeah I do."

"HA!"

"Ha what?"

"Ha, I know."

"How do you know?"

"Your face, I can read you like a novel Tony."

"book Darling… and HEY!"

"potato, patarto, it's all the same. Besides, if you think it is important I do not know before I decide, it answers that question. If I wasn't pregnant, you would have told me."

"Maybe I knew you would psycho analyse me like that and so I adjusted my response accordingly."

"You are not that clever Tony."

"Hey!!! Yes I am." Ziva just glared at him till he responded. "Fine, I didn't but I could have."

"I know." Tony bowed his head took a deep breath then looked back at his wife with worry filled eyes. "You ok?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well this wasn't exactly what you expected, and… you know… with us at the moment, I don't want you to feel rushed, or pressured."

Ziva paused, she thought and considered, her eyes finally made contact with his, "I know what I have to do, what is best for everyone." She couldn't look at him any more, she averted her eyes.

**_Will update ASAP promise!!!_**

so will she or won't she? You may think you know what she's going to say... but am I ever that nice??? are things ever that easy for our beloved Tiva duo???? stay tuned and review. I love reading ALL your reviews and your review may be the one that give me the happy feeling that keeps me awake an extra 30 mins to write a little extra each night! hehehe bribery... but true!!


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm trying so hard to get my reports out so I can update more regularly. another week or so and I should be good to update more regularly!**_

Chapter 9

"So???" he paused, "Come on… you know you're killing me here. What are you thinking about being pregnant."

"A little scared, but for that short while when I contemplated the thought of something being wrong, I felt devastated, that has to mean something yes?"

"so does that mean you're happy about it? I mean it's not like this was planned or anything. We haven't even really talked about kids."

"But you want them?"

"Well, yeah… I guess… sure. I mean it would be kinda cool to have a little DiNozzo running around. If it were a boy I'd be able to teach him football."

"It is not football, you do not use your feet." Ziva smirked

"and if it's a girl,,, well I don't really know what you do with little girls, I mean, I'm not likely to play dolls, but come her teen years any boy trys to be…"

"Like you?"

"She should be so lucky to get a guy like me."

"oh, really! Different girl every night, the lies and the avoiding when you're done? You want a guy like that for our little girl?"

"hmm, good point. She's not dating till she's 30, or maybe 40." Ziva just laughed. "I'm sorry." Tony said, breaking the mood.

"Sorry? What have you got to be sorry about?"

"If it weren't for me you wouldn't have known. I know you wanted to work us out first."

"Well that is true Tony but…"

"but, I mean, you could have taken a lot longer, you know, to think and stuff and it wouldn't have been too long before you started to show, and that might have been a give away that you are in fact pregnant." Tony speculated, trying to make everything alright with logic.

Ziva took a moment and thought about it. She gave him that look that he knew so well that told him that she knew something he didn't. "What?" he looked inquired.

"I told you… I know what I have to do. I had already made up my mind."

"You mean you knew, before all this happened?"

"Yes."

"Yeah? And what's that then?"

"I think we should try again. I do not know what will happen, but I want to try and work things out. I can not help who I love, but you do have to promise me something."

"Anything"

"Do not be so dumb next time, when I warn you that a woman likes you, do not put yourself in that sort of situation."

Tony couldn't help but laugh. He was so happy that Ziva had chosen to give them a second chance he felt the weight of the world lift of his shoulders. "From now on, I'll do what ever you say!" he said breathing a sigh of relief. "So you're moving back in? and we're going to sleep in our bed and be us again?"

"We're also going to be parents."

Ziva hadn't thought that Tony's smile could have grown any larger but some how it did, he looked at her with such admiration, such love, such passion. He turned his gaze to her stomach and lay his hand on her. "I can't wait to meet him."

"or her" Ziva pointed out.

"Yeah, or her. I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, so long as it's got 10 finger and 10 toes and is healthy." They sat there for a few minutes, Ziva's hand held his on top of her stomach. They both smiled, content with the fact they were going to experience their biggest adventure, together.

"You know," Ziva started. "You're telling Gibbs."

"Yeah, been meaning to talk to you about that, there's a chance he might already know."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been hours since the good news, and Tony was still just as happy. "What about Sean, or James or…"

"Tony, we are not naming our child after an actor or a character they played."

"Oh, come on Ziva. You got to let me have some fun."

"Tony, I do not want to be here anymore, when can we go home?"

"I'll go find someone who can tell us." Tony kissed her hand that he was still holding and stood up, heading towards the door. He stood in the door way for a few seconds, looking both ways to find someone who could help. He caught the eye of a passing nurse and scooted over to her. "Arh, yeah, hi, my wife wants to know if there's a chance she could go home soon."

"Who was her doctor sir?"

"Dr Quake."

"I think Dr Quake has gone home, but I will find someone to come and look at your wife."

"Thank you." With that Tony quickly returned to his wife and proceeded to comfort her in the thought that a doctor would soon be by to assess the situation. "What about Simon Templar, now that would be an excellent name. or Frankie, you know after Frank Sinatra." Tony laughed at his own suggestion, as did Ziva, then her attention wavered as she looked over his shoulder and towards the entrance of her room, her smile quickly fading. "What is it?" Tony couldn't help but keep his eyes on her curious face as he turned to look at the door way.

"So I guess the insessent movie references weren't all a front, but what would I know right?" Tony was gob smacked. The last person he expected to see at the door was her. Dr Jeanne Benoit.

"Jeanne." Tony said, not sure if it was a statement or a question, as he stood up and turned to face her. "Jeanne, what are you…." There was no good way to end that sentence. He couldn't believe his luck, he's just gotten over the last woman that ruined his marriage and here in front of him was Jeanne. She was one of the reasons he hadn't been with Ziva for longer, she had driven a wedge between the two of them without even realising it. But somehow they were now together and today had been a turning point in their relationship, they were going to be parents.

"At ease Tony. It's not like you're the patient," she said, half joking to try and cover her anger towards him.

Tony chuckled nervously. "good to hear."

"It was Liza right?" She said turning her attention to Ziva.

Ziva was even worse then Tony. She didn't know how to handle this new development. A few years ago, she had wanted Tony to be happy and had in one rare moment of selflessness urged Tony to go after her, and tell her how he really felt, she had remembered that quote 'if you love something let it go, if they come back to you they'll be yours forever.' Thankfully this had eventually played out in her favour. Even if it hadn't she knew it was the right thing to tell him. If things had worked out for Tony and Jeanne, Ziva would have hated it, but would at least be glad that Tony was happy.

"Ziva actually." She said, trying to plaster a smile on her face.

"Oh, sorry, Tony never really talked about the people he worked with, guess that was because of all the lying." Jeanne pointed out, "so this happen on the job? Guess this kinda thing happens all the time to you guys."

"Maybe I should wait outside." Tony suggested sensing the tension in the room.

"That was unprofessional of me, it was nice of you to stay with Ziva, and maybe it wasn't all a lie." Jeanne apologised as she picked up Ziva's file to examine.

Tony didn't know what to say, how to respond to that. He didn't have time, before Jeanne spoke up again.

"Ziva David-DiNozzo?" she questioned. "You're…."

"Ziva is my… wife."

Jeanne looked up from Ziva's file a mixture of astonishment, regret and annoyance written across her face."…And she's pregnant."


	10. Chapter 10

**_YAY... I updated in less then a week!!!! you all proud and happy????_**

Chapter 10

"Arh, yeah. I think I will wait outside." And with that Tony turned and left the room.

"I am sorry Jeanne."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't waste a year of my life, lying to me."

"I am sorry because this must be painful for you."

"It's not painful, you can't be hurt by love if you weren't in love to begin with. I'm better off without him." Jeanne tried to bravely declare. It wasn't hard to see she was lying.

"I am sure you are, but for what it's worth, it took him a long time to heal after what happened, I still don't think he's forgiven himself for what he put you through." Jeanne paused. She looked satisfied with that comment, not that she said anything, but Ziva could tell that it helped her to hear, even if it pained her to say it.

"Well, it looks like everything here is good. You'll need to come in soon for a check up for the baby. Do you need a referral for a good doctor?"

"That would be good. Thank you."

"Plenty of rest and fluid, don't go doing anything too strenuous and make sure he looks after you, alright?"

"I will."

"I'll leave you to get dressed then, you'll be fine to go." Jeanne signed the piece of paper and started to head out the door. She stopped, turned back to face Ziva, "Is he happy?"

"I believe so."

"how long have you…."

"We have not been married long, we have been together for nearly 2 years."

"But you've loved him for a lot longer haven't you." Ziva bowed her head she always felt uncomfortable talking about her feelings, even with Tony, but with a complete stranger… as much as she had felt for Jeanne, she still didn't know what to say, how to say it, or if she even could say it. "I figured, that day I was at NCIS sorting out my fathers… I could tell."

"I am sorry, I never meant for you too…"

"Please, don't apologise, I get it. Do you think, that if it weren't for me, you two would have…"

"There is no point thinking about what could have been. Maybe. I certainly would not have been against it had it happened."

"Thank you, at least one of you is honest."

"Jeanne, it is important for you to remember that it was Tony's job, but that that was all he lied about, that and his name. The rest was him. He is a good man and he considered lying for the rest of his life about who he really was for you."

Jeanne bowed her head and simply left the room, Ziva slowly got out of bed and moved over to her clothes, she looked out the door and could see Jeanne talking to Tony, she tried to listen. "She's all 't mess her up like you did me."

"I.... I'm.... Thank you Jeanne."

Ziva smiled and took her clothing over to the bed, away from the open door. She carefully put her pants on, feeling every bruise on her body, she looked at her sweater, it was covered in blood from her head wond. She took the top she was wearing under it and put it on and left the sweater on the bed. She didn't think it would look good if she actually wore it. She leant down and picked up her boots and slowly put them on.

"Here, let me help you with that."

"I will be alright."

"The doc said you needed to take it easy, let me take care of you."

"Very well Tony, but this had better not be for the next 9 months."

"How could it be, you're already about 3 or 4 months pregnant!"

TTT

"McGee, McGee," Abby Yelled as she ran into the squad room. "McGee, what are you still doing here, we have to go!"

"Abby, Abby, slow down, where are we going?"

"No time, we'll talk in the car!" McGee grabbed his jacket as Abby pulled him up and he hurriedly tried to keep is arm attached as she pulled it towards the elevator. The doors opened and several agents stepped out, Abby pushed past and repeatedly pressed the 'close doors' button till eventually they did. The elevator started to descend. McGee watched Abby as she paced back and forth. Dramatically, McGee stepped forward and hit the emergency stop button. "McGee!" Abby yelled, obviously annoyed. "We don't have time for this!" She slammed her palm against the button to restart the lift.

"what's all this about Abby?"

"Scared McGee?" she said in her teasing, probing manner.

"Beginning to be, a little,"

"Relax McGee, Ziva's being released from the hospital. Tony rang when she was in talking with a doctor."

"Why wasn't he in there with her listening?"

"You'll never guess who the doctor was."

"No…. not…."

"That's right, Jeanne Benoit apparently it was a little strange him being in the room, so he left so she could check on Ziva."

"So where are we going?"

"…so we have to go pick up her stuff and take it to her place.

"Jeanne's?" McGee said, puzzled and confused in his usual manner.

Abby couldn't help but head slap him for his stupidity. "No! Ziva's stuff!"

"what do you mean get her stuff? Why aren't they just bringing it with them from the hospital?"

"Not from the hospital! Ziva's been staying at a hotel. Ever since that Miriam woman tried to… you know."

"But that was ages ago."

"Yeah."

"Well how come I didn't know."

"Oh please McGee, there are so many things you don't know!"

"So why are we in such a rush? It can't be that hard to check her out and grab all her stuff. She's Ziva, she could live out of a backpack with out anyone knowing!"

"Tony also wants balloons and flowers and stuff at the apartment when she gets there."

"Still, it shouldn't take that long to buy a few get well soon gifts and decorations."

"You haven't heard the hardest part yet."

"What's that?"

"We have to get Gibbs away from his boat and to their apartment!"

"now that could make it a little more difficult."

**_Review!!!!!!!!! I'm addicted to reading them!!!!! _**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Tony and Ziva only left the hospital after he was confident he'd over protectively wrapped Ziva in enough cotton wool to prevent her for from getting hurt, something he planned to do for the next 5 or 6 months, or at least until she started kicking his ass for it.

Ziva had to admit, while she'd tire of it shortly, she liked DiNozzo taking care of her. She enjoyed the attention and after so long of not having him, she was relieved to have his arm wrapped around her waist as they left the hospital. As always he tried gallantly by opening the taxi door for her, and he was surprised when she allowed him too, without rolling her eyes. They both sat in the back, "Where to?" the driver asked.

"Home." Tony said, his voice tainted with glee.

"Arh.. I think you are forgetting…" Ziva intervened.

"What?"

"I should get my stuff from the hotel."

"I'll take care of everything, but now, home." Tony gave the driver the address and they drove off.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hospital may have only been a ten minute drive from the crime scene but it was an hours drive back to the apartment at least. It had been a long day and the sun was starting to set. Ziva's eyes were growing heavy and she couldn't help but rest her head on her husband's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, kissed the crown of her head and then started to stroke her back comfortingly.

It was a rare moment that Ziva showed her tender, almost weaker side, but Tony relished in those moments. He never wanted them to end. They may have been few and far between, but that made them all the more special and memorable. He realised how much he'd missed that jasmine and coconut fragrance that consumed his nostrils as he smelt her hair. In a crazy way that sent soothed and conforted him faster then anything else he'd ever tried.

When the cab pulled up to the curb the slight jolt brought Ziva out of her sleep. She sat up and tried to pretend as if she had never fallen asleep in to begin with. She eased herself out of the car with Tony attempting to assist from behind. Suddenly a hand appeared in front of her face. Ziva looked up, she smiled, she took the a hand and he assisted her out of the car.

"Everything alright?" Tony jumped out of the taxi behind her his eager puppy dog smile on his face.

"Everything is fine Boss." Ziva replied.

"It's better then fine Boss." Tony continued.

"So does this mean today's the day you keep your promise?"

"What promise?" Tony inquired.

"Mine." Ziva answered him. "I made a promise that if there was any more big news, Gibbs would be the first person we'd tell."

"Are you ready to be Uncle Leroy?" Tony joked "or maybe Uncle Jethro or Gibbs." Tony felt a flat hand collide with the back of her neck. "Hey what was that for?"

"for getting my best liason agent pregnant. She's going to be behind the desk for the next 9 months."

"On the bright side, it's only 5 or 6. Tony did this to me while ago." Ziva laughed.

Again, Tony was head slapped.

"HEY!!! seriously"

"Well I can hardly head slap a pregnant woman can I?" The three of them laughed and then heading into the elevator to go up to their apartment. "Congratulations Ziva." Gibbs said as he gave her a congratulatory hug.

"So I get a concussion while she gets a hug?"

"You're a lucky man DiNozzo." Gibbs lent in for a handshake that resulted in a manly one armed hug.

"Don't I know it." Ziva laughed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on McGee, Tony messaged me and told me they were 10 minutes away in a cab, and that was 12 minutes ago. This place has to be perfect."

"I really don't think it will matter where the balloons go Abby"

"Oh course it will!'

"Abby there must be a hundred balloons in this room, it won't matter." McGee grew concerned after that, he saw Abby's face and it was about to disintegrate, he'd only ever seen it when Kate and Jenny died. The threw the balloons down where he was standing and raced over to her. "I'll put them whereever you want. What's wrong? What I do?"

"It's not always about you McGee, Jeeze, why do you think that Tony wants us to do all this?"

"Because… he's happy that Ziva's coming home?"

"I get that McObvious."

"HEY!"

"Sorry must have been channelling DiNozzo there for a minute. If he was bringing Ziva home for the first time in weeks, do you really think he'd want all us here? She's dying McGee. She must be."

"She's not dying Abby."

"How do you know?"

Their conversation seised when they heard a key jangle in the key whole only steps away. They watched in anticipation as the handle started to turn. The door opened and in came Tony first carrying his and his wife's backpack. He stumbled in and batted the balloons McGee had dropped in his hast to comfort Abbie. "I said to get some balloons, not smother us with balloons, why would you put them there?" DiNozzo crankily stated.

"McGee did it." Abby dobbed.

"Where's the common sense McGee, we need to get in." He said as he started to move the bunch of balloons over to the side with the other 100 odd balloons, allowing Ziva to start coming in the door.

"I can't believe Gibbs isn't here yet." Abby said pitifully.

"I'm here." Gibbs said, following Ziva, his hands on her lower back, helping to easy her in past the chaos of the balloon saga.

"Oh my god. It's true isn't it." Abby bellowed.

"What is true Abby?" Ziva asked, still in ore by the sight of her apartment.

"NOTHING," McGee quickly said. Having sorted out the balloon issue and putting their packs down, DiNozzo rushed over to his wife, his eyes sparkling.

"We're having a baby!" He announced.

Abby immediately started to jump up and down and rush over to Ziva. "YAY!!!! I told you so! There's going to be a little David-DiNozzo running round!!!" there was a lot of hand shaking and hugging after that, everyone overjoyed with the news.

"It seems we've arrived late to the party." Ducky said as he walked through the door with Palmer close behind.

"I'm sorry Doctor. I've never had to get here from your house before."

"It's fine Palmer it will teach me for putting my car in for service."

"She's pregnant Ducky!!!" Abby screamed out. "Wow, talk about stealing your thunder, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited" She apologised.

"Arh, my dear, of course you are. Congratulations!"


	12. Chapter 12

**_See, I keep my promises. Work is starting to cool down a little, and as your reward for sticking by me, there is the next chapter!!!_**

**_enjoy, we won't stay happy for long!!!_**

Chapter 12

At 7 months Ziva was bigger then she'd ever imagined and was scared that there were still 2 months left. Much to her discust Tony had instructed their doctor not to tell them anything about the baby, except of course anything vitally important or wrong. At one stage the doctor had attempted to tell them something however she had started with the words "congratulations DiNozzos, you're…" and Tony had jumped on that sentence like a solider in a war movie jumping on a grenade to save his buddies lives. He'd figured it couldn't be anything wrong with the baby if she were congratulating them. He wanted it all to be a surprise and Ziva hated it. The thought of not being fully prepared for any major operation made her feel like she'd lost control and that terrified her.

She'd read all the books on what to expect, while Tony had watched the videos. More then anything it was the boredom that was killing her. It seemed like working closely with three men was proving to be hazardous, mainly for them. There was Tony, the father, who was constantly at her side doing everything for her. There was Timothy, a hopeless,nervous puppy who just wanted to help anyone he could, and of course there was Leroy Jethro Gibbs who had experienced his wife being pregnant and the miracle of having a child, he would never let on, but he was the worst. He didn't rush to her aid every time she dropped a pencil like DiNozzo, but his eyes rarely left her when she did anything but sit. He watched every time she rubbed her large belly, partly to see if she was alright but also as a man who was unbelievably happy for his friends. He wouldn't have said he was jealous, he couldn't have been happier for them, but he missed Shannon and Kelly and tired to imagine his life with them, what Kelly would be doing with her 20s, would she be studying, have started a family? No, he could never be jealous, but perhaps envious was the closest word he could think of to explain his feeling. His biggest wish for Tony and Ziva was that they never had to experience what he did, and that they'd all live long and happy lives. He often smirked to himself what that child's life would be like. The child of an NCIS Special Agent and a Mossad assassin. Would it have Ziva's hair, Tony's love of movies? Ziva's compassion, Tony's sense of humour? Ziva's aptitude of languages or Tony's Hazel eyes. Would it be disciplined like Ziva or a party animals like Tony? Yes DiNozzo and David were defiantly to very different people and he was eager to meet their child and watch the two of them work out how to be parents.

Gibbs's phone rang he picked it up and took the call while the rest of the team continued on with their paperwork. "Gear up," he called as he hung up the phone all four of them reached behind their desks and grabbed their packs, offcourse with her large belly and lack of her usual flexibility and ninja stealth, Ziva was the last one to turn back around, by the time she did, she had the 3 most important men in her life standing over her desk each with an eye brow raised. "Come on Gibbs, I am going crazy sitting behind this desk, never moving."

"I don't care Ziva, you know what the doctor said, no strenuous activities and he wants you home with your feet up by 6. It's nearly 4:30 now." Ziva glared at Tony, furious he'd told Gibbs that, she was hoping Tony would forget.

"Gibbs, please."

"no Ziva, this isn't open for debate. I don't know what we'd be leading you into and you're the size of a house, I'm not doing that. You're not going."

"Come on babe, I've left that ice-cream you like so much in the freezer, and some sour worms." McGee shuddered, he still hadn't gotten used to Ziva's bizarre cravings, but he wasn't sure he wanted too.

"Did you remember to buy the artichokes?"

"Come on Ziva, cookies and cream and artichokes, you'll make the McWeezie hurl!"

"Well... did you?"

"No, I didn't it's gross Ziva!"

"Fine I will buy some on my way home." She threw her bag down defiantly."

The boys all started to move towards the lift. "I want you gone in 30 minutes!" Gibbs called as he entered the lift.

At 5:05, Abby came into the squad room. "Ziva, what are you still doing here?"

"working."

"Gibbs is going to kill you. He's sent me up to make sure you've left."

"Abby, I am fine, sitting behind a desk isn't going to hurt me, or the baby."

"No, but it'll hurt me when Gibbs finds out I haven't done my job and sent you home." Abby walked behind Ziva's desk, lent over her, and started pressing buttons and clicking her mouse eventually the computer started to shut down.

"Abby, I haven't finished that."

"Yeah, and it will be there tomorrow." Ziva pressed the power button while Abby's back was turned to retrieve Ziva's backpack and jacket. She started to plug in her password to enter the system.

"Hey! Abby what did you do?"

"I'll tell you the password tomorrow, I promise, but seen as you can't get back into your system now anyway, you may as well just go home. I'm going home too, how about we pick up some movies on the way to your place and have a girls night?"

"Fine, but we're stopping for artichokes!"

"I can handle that!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on Ziva you must be getting excited, you're having a baby!" Abby probed deeply as they walked down the isle at the supermarket, Abby having stolen the basket to put the groceries in, as soon as they had gotten there.

"I think I am more scared then anything."

"Scared of what? Tony being a father?"

"I actually think he will make a good father. He is very caring and nurturing and is wonderful with kids."

"And you guys are doing alright?"

"Yes, we are doing fine, I get annoyed with him not letting me know anything about the baby, and the fact I'm not allowed to do anything except sit, eat and lie down, but I know why he is doing it. It is kind of sweet I guess."

"That's why you love him." Ziva gave her a revolted sideways glare, to which Abby returned a 'you can't fool me, and you can't hurt me either' look. Ziva smirked, she paused and picked up a packet of biscuits and started to examine the packet.

"I guess I do. He is very different since we got pregnant, I didn't think it was possible for him to be even sweeter and caring. Fatherhood suits him, I kind of wish all this had happened a lot earlier."

"You mean the baby?"

"Everything. Us, dating, married, baby, it really did take us far to long to get here."

"You're telling me! Wow, I like you pregnant Ziva David-DiNozzo, you open up a whole lot more."

"Hmm, Tony said the same thing. I think he is enjoying it far too much."

"He loves you Ziva, he always has, ever since you turned up at NCIS wearing your headscarf, and cargos, sitting provocatively in Timmy's chair." Ziva gave her a curious sideways glare. "He told me all about it, I've known ever since then. You guys are like penguins, you were always meant to be, and now you're together for life." Ziva returned the biscuits to the shelf and kept walking. Turning the corner, into the next isle she froze as her large belly just about collided with another patron. When her eyes looked up, she started to apologise, but stopped suddenly when she saw Jeanne's eyes looking back at her... looking stunned, saddened, amazed and a little pissed.

"Jeanne, I am…"

"Happy from the sounds of it."

"arh, yes, I am sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear all that."

"You really should be careful Ziva, he'll screw you over as quickly as he did me."

"That's not true," Abby defended her friends. "Tony loves Ziva more then anything."

"that's what I thought about he and I." Jeanne took a deep breath, she was obviously pissed off. "You know Ziva, if you want to know the sex of your baby, I could always help you out with that."

Abby looked concerned, firstly due to the offer and secondly, because of the smile of Ziva's face. She was obviously considering it.

**_Have to ask, any good baby names come to mind not sure if it's a boy or girl. Do i go with the traditional, yet completely over used in the world of fan fiction like 'Caitlin' or 'Tali' or something original? I kinda feel like I"m writing one of those 'choose your own adventure' books..... Am I showing my age by meantioning those???? I used to love them, mind you, I used to get stuck on boring paths becuase I'd count the pages of the chapters and choose the shortest chapter!!! hahaha Enjoy and thanks for the reviews... LOVE THEM_**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"You know that would be going against everything you and Tony decided." Abby reminded Ziva.

"Well not exactly, Tony decided we wouldn't find out till we'd both agreed, and it looks like this way he gets what he wants, yes?"

"Well yeah but…"

"But nothing, sounds like he's being controlling, and you don't need that do you Ziva?" Jeanne prompted.

" well…"

"I'm guessing you're the kind of person that needs to know what's going on, the kind of person who likes to be prepared, how can you be prepared when you don't know anything. How can you really get excited when you don't know what to expect?"

"HEY. There are plenty of things for them to get excited about. Ziva you'd hurt him so bad if you went behind DiNozzo's back and found out. It would kill him"

"Sounds like he hasn't changed at all, still the same old control freak he always was."

"I think we should go Ziva." Abby abruptly and rudely said turning her friend around and walking towards the checkout.

"Ziva," Jeanne called, Ziva turned back to look at her. "If you want to find out, I am a doctor, granted, I"m usually in the ER, but I've got experience in this area, I could definatly tell you what to expect." She handed her a business card.

"Come on Ziva, lets go."

"thank you Jeanne." And with that Ziva turned and followed her Abby, who, turned back to Jeanne giving her a dirty look.

"Ziva, you can't seriously be considering this can you?"

"No… no… I mean… no." she muttered unconvincingly.

"That didn't sound so convincing."

"Do not worry Abby, everything will be fine."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ziva you weren't really thinking about taking her up on that offer were you? I mean, what would Tony think?" Abby asked as they sat on the couch, their feet both on the coffee table infront of them, eating soup Abby warmed up in her mission to look after her heavily pregnant friend.

"Why would he have to know Abby? I mean, I have kept secrets from him before, this would be easy."

"could you keep that secret from yourself?

As they spoke the sound of a key unlocking the front door drew their attention. "Abby! What are you doing here? Keeping my wife company in front of the Long Kiss Goodnight?" Tony said as he walked into the apartment and further into the living room giving his wife's two gentle kisses, one on her forehead and one on her rather large and pregnant belly. "Hows my little nougat?" He said talking to his unborn child, Ziva had been addicted to any chocolate bar with Nougat during month 6 of her pregnancy and he'd figured it was a fitting nick name for the baby. It was the perfect analogy Ziva was the perfect chocolate that could always perfectly delectable by it's self, but to have that sweet nougat inside her made her... well, not better, not more special, but unexpectibly wonderful. It didn't make him love her any more, But nougart is sweet and soft, and after all that's what pregnancy had make Ziva, soft, and Tony loved that. Meanwhile, Ziva just rolled her eyes, and Abby couldn't work out if it was barf worthy or adorable. "I thought we agreed to start little Nougat's education off a little better then this." Again Ziva rolled her eyes.

"I am sick of watching James Bond Movies, The Saint, Transformers and the Shawshank Redemption. Besides it was not us who agreed, it was you who stated, and you seem to be making a lot of decisions about this baby."

"WOW, what did I walk into? Whad I do?"

"Is this how it's always going to be? You make all the decisions and I just have to live with it? what if I do not want to? What if I want to send it to a different school, or take it to temple? Do I get any say when it comes to my child?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeanne sat in her cold, lonely apartment, she hated the fact it got to her so much that Tony was so happy. Didn't karma mean anything? Shouldn't he be hurting for what he'd done to her? Shouldn't he feel the pain he put her through? It just didn't seem fair that he's been so horrible to her and then be rewarded with such a wonderful life, he was married and about to add to his family. Ziva seemed so happy with him, was he really the bastard she's pegged him as or was he the Tony DeNardo she's loved. She had wanted him to follow her, and had always assumed the reason he didn't was because everything was a lie, none of it was real. There was noway she could have fallen for a bastard, it must have all been fake. She couldn't help but feel that she'd never had that poor judgement in character. She'd never stayed with a man who had lied to her so long, well, maybe her father, but he had never truly lied to her, he'd always been her loving and loyal father. Was Tony any different? Is all he lied about his job and name? She couldn't shake the feeling that she could be his happy wife expecting their child. She could have wonderful friends looking after her and taking her shopping for un-nutritional food. She could have been the one staying awake at night laughing at old movies and then lying in his strong safe arm. Didn't all girls fall for someone like their father? Maybe Tony was perfect, was the one, and he was happy, just not with her. Jeanne sat there, beginning to seethe. She walked over to her closet and opened the long white door and searched for a large box, not much bigger then a show box, and pulled it out. She returned to her couch and untied the blue ribbon around it. Inside there was photos, she started searching through them. She pulled one out, it was a photo of her and John, her ex. He was a local cop, but he'd lied to her, cheated on her actually, her own fiancée, he'd slept with another woman, her best friend in fact. She wondered if he was happy too after his terrible deed. She pushed the photo back into the box under several others then pulled out a photo of her and Tony. She looked at the way he was looking at her, there was a sparkle of fun in her eye, and the hint of love in his. That look surely couldn't have been a lie. She threw the photo back in the box and slammed the lid shut pushing it across her coffee table and away from her. She wanted to be happy, she wanted to be Ziva, she wanted him. Nothing had changed over all these years without him, nothing had changed. Couldn't he be happier with her? If she wasn't happy, should he be? Had he not followed her because of that bitch Ziva? Jeanne was mad, madder then she'd ever been. She picked up the photo frame next to her couch and looked at the image of her dearly departed father. "I wish you were here papa." At that moment there was a knock at her door, she stood up and moved towards it. "Jullien." She said sounding supprised.

"I need your help Jeanne."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

At 35 weeks Ziva had had enough. She was fed up with being the size of a house and she'd been order by her doctor, husband and boss not to go into work anymore, in fact she'd been ordered to go onto bed rest. There was an end in sight though, as much as she originally hated the thought and wanted so badly to do it naturally, her doctor had strongly urged Ziva to have a C-section 2 weeks early. The thought of 5 more weeks would have killed her now, she was glad to only have three left, she thought back to her own mother telling her that she and Tali had found her belly too comfortable, and that neither of them wanted to come out, they were both over two weeks late, the unknowing of when it would happen probably would have killed her, or Tony!

Tony was copping a fair bit of her anxiety and frustration. Something Gibbs slapped him at the back of the head regularly for whinging about and not being considerate. Of course he couldn't fully comprehend what she was going through, and he didn't complain to her, towards her, he acted like a perfect husband. He rubbed her feet and shoulders, took her verbal abuse for 'stupidly _banging_ her up,' with out reminding her it took two to tango or that he's actually knocked her up. He ran to the 24hour deli down the road at 2am for her strange cravings and never once complained to her about any of it, after all she had the harder job, and was soon going to go though something that was completely inconceivable, child birth.

Ziva's biggest disappointment was work. She missed the thrill and the action. She missed working out, and sparring with Tony, solving cases and dazzling everyone with her insane ninja skills. She knew that the team was working on a big case at the moment, a terrorist was working on taking down some of the Navy's biggest, most top secret operations. So when she had a simple check up she didn't mind going alone, she was almost relieved by it, she was a little over his protectiveness and him talking to her stomach all the time, especially when he called her belly Nougat, even more when it was in front of people. She stepped outside her apartment excited to see the outside world. She got in her car and found she could hardly reach the steering wheel. She readjusted her seat and the wheel so she could drive. Admitting defeat, she got out of her car and haled down a passing taxi. She was almost happy that her usual doctor had called in sick and she was asked head into the hospital for her check up rather then go to her Doctors small surgery. The fact it was further away meant she was able to stay out longer, drive longer and it was all legitimate. No one could get on her case about doing so.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva sat in a waiting room full of loud screaming children who's pregnant mother's where paying no attention to them, happy couples talking to stomachs and walls smothered in clouds and bunnies and all that cutesy stuff she couldn't stand.

"Ziva David-DiNozzo?" a nurse behind the counter called. Ziva closed her 2002 Parenting magazine and placed it on the table in the middle of the waiting room. She walked up to the desk.

"I am Ziva David-DiNozzo."

"Kind off a mouth full that name isn't it?"

"I do not have a problem with it." Ziva replied, slightly terse by rainbows, clouds and bunnies on the wall, and because she was proud of being Ziva David-DiNozzo.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." The girl sheepishly apologised. "Please, follow me, you're in room 4 and your doctor will be with you soon." The young girl opened the door to room 4, and gestured for Ziva to go in. Ziva entered the room and the door closed behind her. She knew the routine, she prepared herself and then got into position for the doctor to examine her. She lay there, patiently waiting.

A few minutes later the door opened

"Sorry about the wait, with picking up all of Dr White's patients today, it's been crazy around here. "

"Jeanne?"

"Ziva..." She paused to collect her thoughts, "H-H-How are you? Looks like you're ready to pop." Distracted by her patient she fumbled for the box of gloves and pulled some out and started to put them on.

"I feel it. I thought you worked in the ER."

"Arh, I usualy do, but they've pulled me of rotaion there was so mych work in here today." Jeanne was obviously uncomfortable. "You look uncomfortable, are you uncomfortable?"

"A little."

"Just relax, I'll go and get you a glass of water."

"It is fine, I just meant…"

"No, I'll be back in a…"

"really Jeanne, I am fine, it's just my size, I"m still not used to it."

"Ziva, I'll be back in a second." Through Jeanne's smiling façade she was dying inside, and didn't really need to get Ziva some water, but needed to take a breath before she examined her ex-lover's pregnant wife. She entered the empty staff room across the hall, and fell back against the wall. "Come on Jeanne, pull it together." She attempted to coax herself. She took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water before taking a deep breath. Her phone started to vibrate in her white coat's pocket. Pulling it out she examined the lit up screen 'Jullien.' She answered the call. "I don't know that I can help you Jullien..." she listerned to the other end of the call. "I do, but I just.... fine, I'll think about it." She slammed the phone shut and returning to the examination room.

Walking in she handed the glass of water to Ziva, "Really, I just meant I was uncomfortable because my ankles are twice their normal size, it hurts when I move and I can no longer put shoes on by myself. I am not thirsty."

"Take the water Ziva, you need to keep hydrated."

"My bladder seems to be the size of a pea these days, I will be fine." Ziva said still not accepting the glass."

"Take it Ziva…." she ordered with a hint of aggression in her voice, "doctors orders," she continued a little sweeter this time. With that, Ziva took the glass, took a small sip and then placed it on the table next to her.

"So, lets see what's happening here then. Have the thought anymore about finding out the sex?"

"I have, and I would very much like to find out what I'm having."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"I have, and I would very much like to find out what I'm having."

"fantastic," Jeanne said, trying to hide her excitement about screwing Tony over, even if it was only a small thing.

"I would like too, but I do not think I should."

"But he'd never need to know!"

"But I would know and Tony might not be perfect but I do believe I would be very upset if he did this to me."

"But he is, he's stopping you for doing what you want."

"I do not think it would make much difference at this stage for me to know or not. I will be finding out in 3 weeks anyway. It is not like I can go shopping for pink or blue little outfits while I'm on bed rest anyway."

"I suppose." Jeanne bit back her disappointment. "Ok, well lets check that everything is going well here then." Jeanne squeezed some cold gel onto Ziva's stomach and then began the ultrasound. "Oh, well that explains it, you didn't tell me you were having twins." Jeanne announced.

"TWINS?" Ziva yelled out.

"you didn't know?"

"No, Tony didn't want to know anything except if it… they were healthy or if there was a problem."

"Oh wow, I'm so…"

"twins… what am I going to do, I can't have twins."

"I'm sorry Ziva, but you are."

"I'm going to kill Tony, I am sure that twins do not run in my family, he must have done this."

"And he didn't want you to find out. Imagine that shock. You know, when they were born."

"That is true. He should have at least found that out."

"Are you okay Ziva? you need to calm down, the baby's heart rates are going up."

"But what am I going to do? I don't know I can look after one baby let alone two."

"Please, you need to calm down."

"I can't I just can't." Ziva frantically thought out loud, not even listening to Jeanne. "You have to do something, you have to get them out, I can't do this." The heart rates were fast, Jeanne's face turned to panic. She knew if she didn't do something soon there was a chance of serious complications.

"Of course you can. And you'll have Tony to help"

"Tony, do you think he would ever be able to look after two babies?" It was a question Jeanne didn't want to search for an answer for. She found herself considering what she would say. She had to calm Ziva down, and as much as she wanted to hurt Tony she couldn't hurt these innocent lives. She found that the only answer she could give was the truth, but perhaps the most painful for her.

"I do Ziva, I often pictured him with children. Playing ball with them, taking them to the park and running them down the slide, how wonderful he'd be when they were teenagers, he'd be one of those fathers that would still be able to relate to the kids without coming off like he's trying too hard. They'd want to come to him and talk about troubling issues like drugs and dating and puberty. He's going to be a perfect dad." Jeanne had lost herself, she was to busy revisiting her old hopes, dreams and thoughts, thoughts she'd believed she'd moved on from years ago. She didn't notice that the rate of Ziva, and her babies hearts were calming. Jeanne knew what she wanted and now new that she wasn't going to stop at anything to get it. She started to hate Ziva, resent her, maybe if she wasn't in Tony's life, he would have come looking for her. She could feel her blood pressure start to rise, she was jolted out of her bitter thoughts by Ziva.

"You are right, we can handle this."

"Arh... yes I'm sure you can."

"You know what, I think it's probably best that we take some blood, you know, just to do a routine scan make sure you're still getting enough iron and everything."

"fine." Jeanne took the ultrasound off her belly and moved to a cupboard, and pulled out the equipment she'd need to take blood. Ziva rolled up her sleave and allowed Jeanne access to her arm. After taking the sample, she took Ziva's blood pressure.

"Your blood pressure is still a little high, you didn't drive here did you?"

"No, I could not reach the pedals and the steering wheel."

"Just as well. Is there someone I could ring to come and pick you up?"

"I'm sure I will be fine. Ziva finished wiping her belly clean with some paper towel then lowered her top back over her belly and arm and went to stand up. Jeanne quickly grabbed her as she started to fall backwards.

"I really think we should ring someone. I could ring Tony if you would like." Jeanne hoped desperately that Ziva would agree and she might get a chance to see him again, and take in his magnificence.

"No, he is on a case."

"Well I can not let you leave in your current condition without someone, it's regulation."

"I have someone I can call."

"Fine, just give their name and number to the nurse at the desk and she will ring them." Jeanne ushered her out of the room, a passing nurse went to go into the examination room. "Arh where are you going?" Jeanne asked trying to block her path.

"To clean up, we've got plenty of patients waiting."

"That's fine, can you please take Ziva out the front? She's feeling a little weak. You'll need to get the phone number of her friend to call them. I'll clean up in there."

The nurse took Ziva's arm and helped her back to the waiting room, sat her down and got a pen and paper to write down the phone number.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ziva!" the yell echoed through the clinical hospital hall moving towards the waiting room where Ziva sat. "Ziva." Abby walked into the room and frantically looked around trying to spy her friend. "Ziva, are you alright?"

"I am fine Abby."

"But they told me you were weak and I had to come down straight away to help you home. Are you alright? Is it the baby?"

"Everyone is fine. I just need to go home."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abby overbearingly accompanied Ziva up to the apartment, holding everything, and shuffling in her platform Mary Janes towards the door. Ziva pulled her keys out of her pocket, but Abby grabbed them quickly and raced to the door so that it could be unlocked when she got there. She moved everything out of her way and lead her to the couch.

"Thank you Abby. I am sure you have a lot of work to do, you should get back before Gibbs discovers you missing."  
"No way. They are all out on assignment, I'm going to ring him and tell him I'm with you. He'll be fine. Oh and I should tell Tony that you're okay."

"NO! no, you can not do that Abby."

"Well why not? He'll be worried about you otherwise."

"He doesn't need to know."

"Ziva, what's wrong? It's the baby isn't it, there's something wrong with the baby isn't there."

"They are fine Abby."

"They? You mean you and the baby? Jeeze Ziva I thought your English had gotten better then that, you mean _we _are fine."

"Well, _we_ are all fine, all of us."

"what are you talking about? You mean the both of you."

"No Abby the three of us. I'm having twins!"

Hey guys. I'm headed away for a few days so won't be able to post for a little while. will start writing the minute I get back.

enjoy and review.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"You're having twins?!?!"

"It appears to be that way."

"And you didn't know?"

"No, Tony wouldn't let the doctor tell us anything other then the babies health. I don't think he could have imagined that this was the case. yes?"

"So you're having twins, really, you're having twins."

"That is what Dr Benoit told me."

"Dr Benoit?" Abby said, drawing out every syllable and lowering her voice in a mixture of annoyance, suspicion and disbelief.

"Yes, you know, Jeanne. My normal doctor was sick so I had to go to the..." before Ziva could finish that sentence a very irate Abby interrupted.

"That… that witch! How could she?"

"How could she what?" Ziva asked perplexed.

"Tell you about the babies. She knew that Tony didn't want to find anything out. NO." Abby looked at Ziva accusingly. "You didn't tell her to tell you did you? Oh my god Ziva, Tony's going to kill you, do you know what sex they are and everything?"

"I did not ask to find out Abby. She assumed that I knew, and no I did not ask to know what gender they are."

"I bet she did this on purpose."

"I do not think she would do that Abby."

"Oh, you don't do you… I think she would."

"She seemed genuinely shocked when she found out I didn't already know. But you have to do me one favour."

"What's that?" Abby asked apprehensively.

"You can't tell Tony. I want to see the shock on his face when two come out. Serves him right for not letting me find anything out."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I have a plan." Jeanne spoke into her phone, "It's one that will help both of us with our little problems, meet me in one hour, at my apartment, we'll sort it all out from there."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva lay on her bed, reading one of her favourite books for the hundredth time. She was desperate to hear keys enter the lock on the front door. She couldn't wait to see Tony, even if it did mean she had to omit some very relevant information.

"Honey, I'm home." Tony called with a bad accent as we walked into their apartment a few minutes later.

"Please do not say that every time you come home."

"Oh, Lucy, you spoil all of my fun."

Ziva couldn't help but chuckle on the inside, it was so very Tony to quote I Love Lucy. "So hows my little chocolate bar? Did the doctor say that Nougat was going to be a quarter back?" Ziva just laughed while Tony pulled his tie off, then removed his shirt screwing it into a ball and sniffing it before he threw it in the dirty clothes basket in the corner of the room. The sniffing was a bad habit that Ziva still scrunched her nose up at the thought of. He put a little more deodorant on and finally jumped onto the bed so he was on his side, lying next to her, his hand instantly drawn to her titanic sized belly.

"So hows the case going?" She asked him.

"Arh, think we've hit a brick wall, the trails gone cold, which offcourse, means Gibbs is even worse the usual. We're just waiting for him to make a mistake."

"You are just saying that to make sure I don't miss the action yes?"

"No, really, Gibbs is walking round like a bear with a sore paw and Abby seems to be avoiding us for some reason, I mean what's that about?"

Ziva knew exactly what that was about. Abby was not very good at keeping a secret, not one as exciting as this. She wasn't sure how Abby would manage avoiding Tony for 3 weeks, but she'd need to as long as it took. One look at her face and Tony would know something was up. "So, come on, what did the doctor say?"

"She said everything was looking good, she took blood and did the ultrasound."

"She took blood? Why was something wrong? Is that normal at this point in the pregnancy? Something's wrong isn't it. Okay, tell me, I can take it."

"You are such a Drama King"

"Queen, Drama Queen."

"But you are a male yes? Surely you would have to be a King."

"You make an interesting point. Right. What am I cooking you for dinner?"

"I do not know how I am supposed to eat when I feel like such a whale."

"You're not a whale, you're my wonderful, beautiful, amazing chocolate bar. And soon, we're going to have a beautiful baby, and that baby is going to be strong, and if that's the case, you're going to have to eat to keep up your strength. So, fish and steamed veggies it is."

"OH NO… pizza please."

"nope, healthy, remember? Fish and veggies coming up." He stood up and started down the hall towards the kitchen.  
Ziva couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever cook again after their babies were born. She considered that he probably wouldn't even have time to cook, not with twins. She did miss their take away diet, she used to cook all the time, she used to love it, but since becoming more affiliated with American culture and being with Tony, it seemed more important to enjoy his company rather than spend hours in the kitchen.

She felt the babies start to kick, she now understood why it felt like a hurricane in her tummy every time this started, there were four limbs flailing around instead of the assumed two. "Tony come here. There is a whole lot of kicking going on."

"Where's my little football player?" Tony raced back to her and placed his hand on her stomach. "Are you sure we're having a human baby? I mean seriously, it looks like an alien is in there, I mean, what's that bit meant to be?" he said looking at her stomach, watching the obvious movement of the babies through her skin. "I mean, I get that there should be a couple of bumps, but seriously. What is that, a horn or something? I'm kinda picturing that Alien scene. You know where it…"

"Yes, I know Tony, you've only made me watch that movie 100 times."

"It's a classic!"

"I guess I'll be watching that in the coming weeks then won't I?"

"I'm already putting it on the DiNozzo Approved Watching Guide." Tony ran out to the living room and grabbed a pad of paper. He'd been writing down all the movie titles he thought were important for Nougat's early film eduction. "Oh and the Usual Suspects, Nougat has to watch that."

"You know we really should start thinking about names."

"But we don't know if it's a boy or a girl."

"We can choose names for both."

"I still say we wait and meet him or her first, then we'll know what name suits. You don't want to use a name like poppy and then she be ugly."

"We would never choose the name Poppy. And she wouldn't be ugly. But we're not calling it Nougat. Yes?"

"Nah… well… not for long anyway."

As he finished writing the movie titles and placing the pad of paper on the dresser, his mobile rang.

**_Oh no, who could it be????? _**

**_You know the drill,,,, read... review, hypothesise... you know I like that!!! :)_**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Oh, come on boss, I've only just got home, I need to cook Ziva dinner."

"_I've already called Abby and told her to get over to your place." _Ziva resented the fact that it seemed everyone believed she needed 24 hour care, especially at night. When ever Gibbs called Tony out after hours he always seemed to call Abby over for a while. She hated the fact she needed to be 'babysat' especially at night.

"But,"

"_No Buts DiNozzo, we've got work to do."_

"Fine, I'm on my way." Tony closed his phone. "I'm so sorry, I gotta go."

"I heard."

"But Abby will be here…" there was a knock at the door. "I guess now."

"You know, I do not need a baby sitter."

"Come on, if anything happened while I was on out on a case, Gibbs would never forgive himself, just let him do it. It's kinda sweet you know." Tony's voice became louder as he moved down the hall to answer the door so she could still hear him. He knew he was using Gibbs as an excuse, he didn't like her being alone too much either. "hey Abbs." He said looking at the gothic scientist as he opened the door.

Ziva heard from the bedroom. "You know where she is."

"Wow Tony, wish more men would greet me at their door looking like that." Tony just smirked a little proud of himself. "you been working out?"

"Well actually...."

"Ziva!" Abby interrupted him as she hurried down the hall. "So what movie we pulling from the DiNozzo Approved Watching Guide tonight?" She asked, a hint of scepticism in her voice, as she bounced on the bed next to Ziva taking Tony's spot.

"I was thinking The Professional. I need a little action."

"I'll make sure I'll be home early if thats the case!!" Tony eagerly taunted while he looked through his wardrobe for a fresh shirt that worked his pants.

"Come on Tony, not in front of the kids!" Abby joked.

"Kids?" Tony looked at her strangely.

Ziva turned to her looking at her on red alert. Had Abby just slipped in the worst possible way? She wondered. This was likely to be a disaster.

"You know… Caramel and me, McGee too when he's here."

"Caramel? It's Nougat Abs!" Ziva breathed a sigh of relief. Abby had not only covered her tracks, she'd made him divert onto a new path of distraction with the caramel thing.

"I like Caramel better." Abby retorted. "So what's for dinner Caramel?" Abby said directing the question at Ziva's stomach, "Pizza again?" Tony looked at Ziva with a look of comical disgust.

"Healthy Abby, the doc says we have to eat all the right things. There's fish and broccoli in the fridge and peas in the freezer." He plucked a black shirt with purple stripes on it off a coat hanger and started to pull it over his arms.

"Come on DiNozzo."

"Fish and steamed Broccoli Abby."

"But Caramel doesn't like fish, she/he kicks like crazy every time I feed it to Ziva."

"Tough! It's good for you!... wow, I like the sound of that, I'm going to be such a good dad!"

"You're going to be a great dad." Ziva confirmed. "Just promise me you won't freak out about stuff."

"Who me? Freak out? It's not the DiNozzo way." Abby and Ziva shared a look at that statement, they knew he'd be completely freaked when he found out that there were two buns in Ziva's oven. Tony lent down and kissed Ziva on the head, then on the tummy, "No artichokes and sour cream in the bed tonight." Tony finished doing up the buttons on his shirt and tucked it into his pants.

"Oh, but that's Nougat's favourite!" Abby joked.

"Glad to see your back on board with the Nougat name. HEY," He called as he moved down the hall, "great idea on a name. Humphrey."

"Humphrey?" Abby protested

"As in Humphrey Bogart… Humphrey Nougat. Go before you get Gibbs slapped into the next your child's teenage years!" his wife told him.

"Kinda fitting though, Bogart was a good navy man! Add The Maltese Falcon to that list. Hey, I'm proud of you Ziva! Love you, Thanks Abs! Behave yourselves." He yelled down the hall as he left the apartment.

"Proud of you?" Abby asked Ziva.

"The Bogart reference. He gets impressed when I get his movie references. I like the way you were able to side track him with the Caramel thing."

"side track him? Hey I think it's kinda cool, Nougat and Caramel, I like those chocolate bars!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By the time Tony arrived at the exceedingly dodgy looking bar Gibbs and McGee were already hard at work investigating the crime scene, even Duck and Palmer had made it there before he had. He rushed over to Gibbs. "Sorry Boss, I…"

"She alright?"

"Yeah, boss, Abbys with her."

"Good, looks like the work of our terrorist. Fits his MO."

Tony looked at the crime scene. There was a dead Naval Officer on the floor, from the look of the room there had been quite a scuffle. "Start bagging and tagging DiNozzo." Tony moved around the body picking up all the items that could possibly have any clues that would help them pin down their terrorist. He bagged several glasses most of them had traces of bourbon in them, surprisingly one didn't, though Tony couldn't work out what had been in it from sniffing the glass, he bagged it, hoping that Abby would be able to determine what was in it back at the lab. Near where the glasses had sat he found a stray hair on the green felt poker table, he used the tweezers to safely extract it. He found it surprising that there were no cards on the table or poker chips, but assumed who ever it was didn't want to leave any finger prints. He managed to find a few drops of blood on the floor, he summoned McGee over to him to take a photo of it before he took it as a sample.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I know your behind me." Abby said without turning to look.

"What you got Abs?"

"don't you want to know how I knew you were there?"

"I assume it's because you've got something for me."

"Well yeah, but I also saw you in the reflection of the plasma." She looked at Gibbs wanted to see some sort of reaction from Gibbs, instead she just saw his look and decided to get on with it. "I was able to get some finger prints of the glasses, I've matched one set to our dead officer, I'm running the other now. The bad news is the other print has been partially rubbed off so it's a little tricky. BUT. I did find some saliva on the glass so I'm running that as well as the DNA from the hair and blood Tony found. Could take a while to get a result though."

"Let me know Abs." Gibbs went to leave the then turned around. "Ziva alright when you left?"

"She was falling asleep in front of Independence Day."

"Thanks Abs. I know you're pulling double shifts at the moment looking after her so much."

"Gibbs… I don't mind, besides I'm getting all sorts of dirt on Tony."

"I owe you plenty of caf-pows for this"

"Can I trade a caf-pow for you referring to the baby as Caramel instead of Nougat?"  
"Arh Jeeze Abby. That's…"

Gibbs was interrupted by the computer beeping. They looked to see what the partial finger prints could tell them.

They both stared at the screen. Stunned. There in front of them was the last photo they ever expected to see. They would have expected to see Tony up there more then this person. After all it had been about time for his annual framing. No, this was something they'd never expected, they slowly turned to look at each other before Abby finally broke the silence. "Gibbs? Are you seeing Ziva on that screen?"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Okay, well maybe Ziva's been to that bar and that's why her finger prints were on the glass, and why they were partially rubbed off. I mean, from the photos it looked like that place wasn't exactly hygienic, maybe they aren't great at cleaning their glasses."

"She hasn't drunk in over 8 months Abs, I don't think that could be the case."

"Well you try to explain it Gibbs." Abby bellowed hysterically. "because I can't."

"I don't know Abbs. I guess we just need to wait for more test results." Gibbs said with concern in his voice. He didn't want to panic Abby but she could tell he was mystified by this development.

"Are we sure this is the same guy we've been after?"

"You tell me Abbs, you matched the slugs found at the crime scene to those found at the other sites?"

"Good thinking Gibbs!" Abby rushed to her computer and started to try and pull up the photos of the slugs, then stopped, she looked at Gibbs, he could see a tear about to escape her right eye. "Even if it's not the same slug, it's still not a good outcome for Ziva is it?" she pondered. She rushed to Gibbs and he wrapped his strong arms around her to comfort her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Tony." Gibbs roared as he walked into his squad room.

"Yeah Boss." Tony replied, unsure of what he'd done now.

"Who have you pissed off lately?"

"No one I can think of Boss. Why?"

"That time of the year again DiNozzo."

"Abby found some evidence that links to Tony Boss?" McGee asked baffled by how this could keep happening to his co-worker.

"No." Gibbs replied leaning over his desk pressing a few keys on his computer screen.

"Well why we pulling out that list of suspects again then?" McGee said as he pulled out a large manila folder from the filing cabinet.

"Yeah boss, wha'd Abby find?" Tony asked, his eyes wide.

"A partial fingerprint."

"Whose?" McGee asked, both agents waited with baited breath for Gibbs's answer.

"Ziva's." He stated.

"Ziva? as in my wife sitting at home growing a baby in her belly Ziva?"

"Yep."

"Well that's crazy Boss, she's hardly left the apartment in over a month. How could she have left have gone on a killing spree and turned into a terrorist, I mean, I know I'm not the most observant husband, I don't always notice when she gets her hair trimmed or her nails done, mainly because she doesn't get her nails done, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if she started slipping out and causing major mayhem with navy information."

"You sure about that DiNozzo?" A familiar voice sounded from behind them. They turned to see Fornell standing behind them. "My intelligence tells me that your wife has been on maternity leave."

"Yeah, she has, so?"

"So all those hours at home alone? You don't know if she really was at home do you?"

"She's on bed rest, she's not going to risk our baby."

"A mossad officer? She's capable of anything."

"You better take that back Fornell." Tony became enraged and defensive he started moving towards him in a threatening manner.

"I can't do that DiNozzo. You know I have to investigate this matter."

"She would never risk the life of our child." Tony Raged forward ready to attack, Gibbs and McGee pulled him back and held him so that he couldn't do something he'd regret. "There's a reasonable explanation for this Fornell, and we're going to find it. She's not a terrorist. She's not a killer."

"She's Mossad, that's what she's been trained to do, kill and deceive."

"That's not her anymore, and you better do what ever you can to prove she's innocent if you know what's good for you."

"I'm going to investigate, and I hope for everyone's sake, especially your child's, that she's innocent."

Gibbs released his grip once he knew Tony wasn't going to lash out again. He'd also seen Abby out of the corner of his eye signalling for him to come talk to him. He moved over to her and started a hushed conversation.

"We'll work to find out the truth DiNozzo, what ever that may be. But we're going to need to question Ms David."

"MRS… David… DiNozzo." Tony correcting him, clearly articulaing every word.

"Sorry. I'm going to have to question Mrs David-DiNozzo."

"you can't do that. She's on bed rest, she's not supposed to leave the apartment."

"You telling me she hasn't left your apartment for a month?"

"Well, apart from to go see the doctor for check ups."

"and you've been with her while she's done that right?"

"well, no, not yesterday but there's no way she could have caused that mess, she can't even tie up her shoes anymore."

"Sounds like a pretty good cover story to me."

"Gibbs, you'd…" Tony turned to look for conformation on his wifes innocence from Gibbs, realising that he wasn't there, he turned further and spied the conversation going on between his boss and the forensic scientist. "Miss Sciuto, I'm sure you've found something that says Ziva's innocent. Right?"

"Arh…" Abby looked concerned, she didn't want to answer that.

"I'll remind you about your responsibility to report exactly what you find and that holding back any information that might hinder our investigation would be a federal offence." Fornell stated.

"well, I matched the slugs to the ones we found at the other crime scene. They were shot from the same gun. I ran the DNA on the glass and the strand of hair. I'm sorry Tony, they both match Ziva. Ducky even found blood on the victim that didn't match the deceased, I ran it. It was Ziva's. All the evidence points to one person. I'm going to keep trying, I'll check everything DiNozzo, she's not going to jail. Forensics will set her free, and tell the real story."

"Looks like it's time to go visit you wife DiNozzo."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Ziva was sitting up in bed watching Spaceballs, It wasn't on the Approved watching guide, but occasionally she needed to get away from Tony's constraints and watch something she enjoyed. She didn't see why he didn't want Caramel and Nougat to watch it. She found all the literal interpretations of idioms such as "Comb the desert" to be hilarious! Besides, what Tony didn't know, Ziva didn't need to worry about.

When the keys rattled in the door she quickly flicked her eyes to her watch. It was only 10:30 in the morning, there was no way Tony would be home yet. She reached her hand beneath her pillow and pulled out a gun. She heard someone enter, but who ever it was remained quiet. She placed her gun, concealed, under the sheets ready to greet her intruder. She could heard them moving down the hall towards her. She cursed her heavily pregnant body, for her lack of mobility, she couldn't even see around the corner to ascertain what was happening. The footsteps drew closer, her heart beat faster as she covered her children protectively with her free hand. A hand and the tip of a black leather shoe appeared first, "Ziva? you awake?" she heard a familiar voice whisper.

"What are you doing home Tony? I was about to shoot you!" Tony moved into the room a little faster now.

"Sorry Sweet Cheeks." He said Sourly. "Wasn't exactly my idea to come home at this time of day."

Ziva looked confused. She wasn't sure what was going in. Gibbs entered the room behind her husband who was now sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. "Gibbs?" Ziva's mind started to search for possible reasons for them both being there. She searched their faces for any hint of what was going on. "What is wrong? Oh God, has something happened to McGee or Abby? Ducky or Palmer?"

"No, they are all fine Zi."

"Well then what is going on?"

"what's going on is that you're corrupting our innocent child with Spaceballs."

"Tony. That is not why you are here. Why?" out of the corner of her eye she noted a new entry to the room. She glanced over and there standing in front of her was Fornell.

"Jeeze Tony, who'd you piss off now?"

"ME? Why would I have pissed someone off? And why does everyone just assume that?"

"Have we pulled out our file of suspects? Tell McGee I've kept an up-to-date spreadsheet on my computer under the name…"

"It's not DiNozzo in trouble this time." Fornell interjected.

"Well then what are you doing here?"

"It's you Ziva." Gibbs said with his comforting voice, not wanting to distress her. "We found your fingerprints and DNA at a crime scene."

"Well that is not possible, there must be some sort of mistake. I have not done anything. Literally. All I have been allowed to do is lie in this bed."

"Where were you yesterday?"

"Here. I mean, I also went to the hospital."

"Ziva? what?" Tony was alarmed by this.

"Dr White was sick so they rescheduled some of her appointments at the hospital. It was no big deal."

"You drive?" Fornell asked.

Ziva bowed her head, she was annoyed that she had to reveal her weakness. "No, I could not reach the break or the steering wheel. I caught a cab there."

"Thats a good think Ziva." Gibbs said, noticing her shame at not being able to do something. "We'll check with the cab company, and they'll tell us exactly where they picked you up and dropped you."

"...and if you made any stops. You take a cab home?" Fornell enquired.

"The doctor didn't want me going home alone, my blood pressure was too high, so I called Abby."

"what was wrong." Again, Tony became distressed by this information and Ziva realised how much information she'd neglected to tell him last night thanks to her diversions and Gibbs calling him out to a job. "Why was your blood pressure high? Is the baby alright?"

"Yes Tony, everything is fine. She was just outlining the procedure and I got a little concerned."

"but everything is okay right?"

"Yes Tony, everything is fine."

"So when Miss Sciuto dropped you home what did you do then?" Fornell inquired.

"She helped me in and settled me down on the couch and we just talked."

"How long was she here for?"

"I don't know maybe an hour. I told her she should get back to work before Gibbs found out."

"Ziva, she was looking after you, that's just as important as her job."

"Thank you Gibbs."

"So when she left?"

"I read my book until Tony got home."

"and no one saw that did they?"

"No."

"What time were you at the hospital?"

"I left home about 1100 hours got to the hospital close to 1200hours. I sat in the waiting room for maybe an hour before I saw the doctor."

I'll need to get the name of the hospital and the doctor you saw to confirm all this." He handed her a pad of paper and she wrote down all the information he would need to check her alibi.

An hour later Fornell had seemed content with her responses and left with Gibbs and DiNozzo. Ziva knew she'd done nothing wrong and if nothing else, her size seemed to tell Fornell that she couldn't possibly have caused the carnage from the crime scene. Once, before she was pregnant maybe, but now? There was no way she could have done that. She couldn't wait to get her body back and go back to what she perceived to be normal.

She lay there, with her now cooled soup that Tony had left next to her and a fresh jug of water by her side. He was obviously worried about how Fornell's visit would worry or stress her. She had urged him to go back to work for several reasons, the first was that she didn't really want him obsessing all afternoon. Ziva also wanted this sorted out as soon as possible, she didn't want the birth of her children to be overshadowed by their mothers pending incarceration, plus, with Tony on the case, she would be assured that she'd be able to get the most up-to-date information about the case. She picked up her book and began to read again, she had to try and do something to stop obsessing about the case and wishing that she could be involved in proving her innocence.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs." Abby called as she shuffled into the squad room. "I've been examining the photos taken at the crime scene look." She lent over McGee a typed something into his computer and the photos appeared on the large plasma screen. McGee, Fornell, Gibbs and especially DiNozzo huddled around the screen. "Look, the photos of the blood Timmy took…"

"There's not much of a tail from that spot." McGee speculated.

"That's right, this blood has defiantly been added to the scene. Now look at this…" Abby used the clicker to reveal the next photo. "Look, these are the glasses you collected from the crime scene." They all stood looking at a photo of the poker table with 2 identical glasses sitting on it.

"Yeah. So?" Fornell asked.

"So look at this photos." Again she swapped the photo over for another.

"What are we meant to be looking at Abs?" Gibbs said as he studied the photo trying to work out what he was meant to be looking at.

"Look." She clicked some buttons and zoomed in on a small portion of the photo. Behind the bar were mirrors and in the reflection the glasses racks could clearly be seen.

"They're different glasses." Tony pointed out.

"So where have the glasses we've got down in evidence come from?" Fornell asked.

"well, that's a problem. I've tracked them down to the producer, but they supply those glasses to hundred of places in the city alone. They're a relatively cheap glass that a lot of workplaces purchase in bulk. They aren't traditionally used in many bars because of their quality. Problem is, there's no distinguishing features that would tell us when they were made or why they were distrabuted to."

"So someone planted the glass and the blood there, I'm assuming the hair as well." Gibbs suggested.

"Yeah, well that's what I'm thinking, but who would do this? Who has something... anything against Ziva?"

"As far as I know she hasn't really annoyed anyone here, but overseas? Who knows, she doesn't really talk much about her past. So I wouldn't know who has it out for her." Tony said.

"Well someone does and we better work it out soon."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva closed her book, again she'd finished it. Of course, it always ended the same way, but that never mattered to her. She never understood how to Tony hated reading. She sat there for a few minutes reflecting on her book, wishing it didn't have to end. Finally she picked up the remote sitting next to her on the bed. She pointed it at the screen and was about to turn it on when she again heard the front door opening. She waited a second for Tony to call down the hall. "I am awake Tony. I thought you'd be working on the case late tonight. I was just going to heat up some of that soup you made." There was no response. With each footstep that came down the hall Ziva started to worry, her heart started to beat a little faster as she wondered why he wasn't answering her.

"Tony?"

Still no reply.

She heard the footsteps getting closer, they were nearly at the door to enter the bedroom.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I don't get this Abs." Tony said as he paced back and forth in her lab.

"I know, I mean, how would anyone have gotten all those things to frame Ziva? and who would want to?"

"I don't know. Man, I wish she were here to help. Okay, we just need to think about this rationally, now, what evidence do we have."

"Okay. Where could they have gotten a sample of her hair from?"

"Anywhere. I find her hair all over the apartment."

"and these glasses? Have you ever seen these before?" Abby asked, holding up an evidence bag with the infamous partial finger printed glass in it.

"Never seen them before."

"right, and what about the blood? It was pretty fresh and there no skin or impurities, it's not like it's from a bandaid or something."

"So it would have to be something like someone drawing blood."

"either that or a major slash that's made her loose a hole lot of blood. Any gashes lately?"

"Nope. None. I haven't noticed any large bandages on her body lately. Just a small piece of cotton wool held down by that white tape they use when you get a needle."

At that moment, the lab phone rang. Abby pressed the button to answer the phone. "Abby's lab, you're on the air."

"Miss Siuto, is it true you picked Miss David up from the hospital yesterday?" Fornells voice came through the loudspeaker. Tony grimaced at the name Miss David, but let it slide while he tried to keep his thoughts to the mystery confronting him. Abby glanced at Tony, he rolled his eyes.

"arh, yeah." Abby asked slowly and suspiciously.

"What time would that have been?"

"Well, I was running the Major Maspectrometer had just finished solving Johnson's case,and…"

"Abby?" Fornell tried to steer her back on track rather then going on a long rant. "We can do this the easy way, or I can take you into an interrogation room."

"Right. I guess I got the phone call at 2ish, I was at the hospital by 1430."

"And where did you find her."

"In the waiting room in the maternity ward."

"Was she by herself or was Dr Benoit with her at that point?"

"Benoit?" Tony instantly snapped his head to face the direction the fornell's voice was coming from. "Jeanne Benoit? As in the woman who tried to send me to jail for killer her father?"

"DiNozzo?" Fornell asked, a little surprised to hear his voice.

"yeah, it's me, now answer me, Jeanne Benoit saw Ziva yesterday?"

"I believe so. That is the name she wrote down for me, and I've rung the hospital to check that. I was a little surprised that you'd let her have anything to do with your pregnant wife."

"Did you know about this Abby?" Tony questioned. Abby's face turned guilty.

"Maybe." She said shamefacedly.

"Ziva had blood taken"

"Yeah, at the hospital yesterday, they needed to check her iron levels and stuff." He saw Abby's confused face. "Why?"

"So where do you think that blood ended up?"

"Jeanne doesn't hate Ziva does she?" Fornell weighed into the conversation, "Maybe you DiNozzo, but Ziva?" Fornell stated.

"I don't know about that," Abby confessed, her guilty look hadn't left her face. "I think she resents Ziva, and maybe she thinks that if Ziva's out of the picture, you'll go back to her."

"That's crazy."

"Yeah, but she has already tried to frame you for her father's murder, do you really think she…" Before she could finish Tony ran from the room. He didn't stop for the lift, he ran the stairs. He didn't even go through the squad room he ran as fast as he could to his car. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and started to dial.

**_lost motivation for this story... hope it doesn't show too much.  
If you have any suggestions how I could improve it, let me know in a review. You know I love them!_**


	21. Chapter 21

**_Special thanks to those that reviewed my last chapter. They have inspired me. The story is nearly over, but it's now a little more interesting that it was going to be!!! ENJOY!!!_**

Chapter 21

"Tony?" Ziva called again. She was a little stunned when it wasn't her husband that turned the corner into her room. "Dr Benoit?"

"I just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing. I hope you don't mind me just letting myself in…"

"How did you get in? Did Tony leave the door unlocked?" She asked doubtful that he'd do that, especially under the circumstances.

"Yeah, the door was unlocked, and I guess I thought you might have been sleeping so I just came in."

"What," she paused and took a second to try and answer her question before she asked it. "what are you doing here?"

"I told you, I'm just checking on you."

"But…." The phone that Tony had always insisted sit next to her started to ring. Ziva moved to answer it but Jeanne stopped her. She looked in Jeannes eyes and couldn't read them, they were cold and unfamiliar. "What are you…" as she started to talk the home answering machine kicked in.

"Ziva? why aren't you answering. I think you're in trouble, I think I know what's going on. Just don't move, don't let anyone in. I'm so sorry Ziva. it's all my fault again. It's Jeanne."

Ziva looked back at Jeanne and realised that the look in her eyes was terror.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Dam it!" Tony roared as he slammed his phone shut and pushed his foot hard on the accelerator. His car sped up to match his heart beat. Even if Ziva was asleep and he rang, she would still answer, and then scold him for it. His fret turned to a panic.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva reached under the sheet where her gun was still lying from when Tony, Gibbs and Fornell had surprised her.

"If I were you Ziva, I'd keep your hands above the covered." Jeanne warned her.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's not fair. Tony lied to me, deceived me, and now he's got it all and I'm left with nothing. I had dreams, I was meant to be having his babies, I pictured walking down an isle in a while dress towards him. This was meant to be my life. Not yours."

"I do not understand, are you angry at Tony or Jealous of me?" Ziva picked up a little anger in her voice now.

Jeanne was obviously confused by this question which distressed her. She didn't know how to answer it, she wasn't sure herself. She was full of a mixture of emotions. Ziva could see this and wasn't sure what Jeanne was capable of.

"Did you take my blood sample and use it at the crime scene?"

"I took your blood sample, but it was Jullien that planted it at the bar and the glass you used at the hospital. I took a few glasses so it would blend in."

"Who is Jullien?"

"My brother. He took over the family business when Tony murdered our father."

"You made that up Jeanne. Tony was cleared of all those charges."

"I don't care what you say, Tony was responsible for my fathers death even if he didn't pull the trigger himself. Now you've got to get up."

"What? Why? Where are we going?"

"Tony took everything I wanted away from me, now," She paused and looked at Ziva. "Now I'll take everything he wants away from him." Jeanne pulled her to her feet. The gun fell to the floor as her body knocked it out of the bed. "Well aren't you a tricky one. I see why Tony likes you, you're just as deceitful as he is." She took the gun and held it in one hand while she continued to hurry Ziva to get her out of the apartment.

"Jeanne, you can't, what about the babies? I'm not supposed to move."

"Hurry up, move it!" Ziva wrapped a scarf around her neck and grabbed a jacket, it was the least she could do to keep her babies warm. Her pregnant brain couldn't think clearly. She assumed Tony was on his way, but how long would he take? Would he make it on time? She had to find a way to stall Jeanne, and give Tony time to find her.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby called through the video intercom in autopsy. Gibbs turned from the body lying in front of he and Ducky.

"What is it Abs?"

"It's Ziva, and Tony. Well, It's Jeanne. She's the one responsible for all this."

"What are you talking about Abs?"

"Jeanne was the doctor yesterday when I had to go pick her up. Jeanne's been trying to use Ziva to hurt DiNozzo for months now, she's finally found a way I guess."

"What evidence have you got?"

"She took blood from Ziva yesterday; the glasses we found at the bar weren't the same glass they used at the bar. They're a cheap glass predominantly bought for bulk buying like in a hospital."

"I'll call Fornell. We'll get a warrant. Where's Tony?"

"When Tony realised what was going on, he rushed home straight away to see Ziva. He seemed really worried Gibbs."

Gibbs immediately pulled out his phone and pressed speed dial 1, Tony.

"DiNozzo."

"Boss, Ziva's not answering the phone, and Jeanne Benoit is behind all this."

"Jeanne isn't going to hurt her is she?"

"I don't know boss, but I wouldn't put it past her. I have to get to her."

"What makes you think that she's in danger?" DiNozzo paused a second, looking for a way to explain his concern. Finally he answered.

"My Gut boss. My Gut."

**_Not my longest chapter,,,, but not my shortest ever either. The next one will be longer, and full of action. Promise. _**

**_but you know what needs to happen to help my write it!!!!! Review!!!!!!_**


	22. Chapter 22

**_Loved some of your ideas you sent me through reviews. Special thanks to Meatball42 whose thoughts lead me to some new ideas, more exciting then I'd originally thought up. All your reviews inspire me to keep writing.... _**

**_Oh and for those who don't remember, Jeannes father tells Ducky that he has more children then just Jeanne. I'm sure you all remember, but thought I better let you know I haven't pulled that from nowhere._**

Chapter 22

"There's someone who wants to meet you." Jeanne Said to Ziva as she continued to ready her to leave the apartment.

"Please Jeanne, I'm begging you, the babies."

"I don't care. Your husband seems to be closing in on my brother and I won't loose another family member to him."

"Where are you taking me?"

"To him. He has big plans for you."

"Don't make this worse for yourself. They know that you're behind this, if you abduct me there's no going back."

"Like you said, they know I'm involved, I've got nothing to loose now."

"You could do a deal. Tony will help you. Or if you don't trust him, Gibbs. He'll do the right thing by you, just don't hurt my babies."

"and what am I going to trade for my freedom? My brothers? Then we're right back at square one, and I loose my brother. No. You're coming with me." Jeanne grabbed Ziva's arm and began to drag her out of the apartment.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony stood at the threshold of his apartment, the door was slightly ajar. His gun was drawn as he cautiously nudged the door open a little. He slid his gun through the opening and then followed it into the apartment. He checked the hall closest, and his living room and kitchen, there was no sign of anyone. He made his way down the hall, hoping that his wife would still be lying there, he wouldn't care what movie she was corrupting his children with. He'd just be grateful that she was there, and safe. Step by step, he moved down the checking behind every door or as he past. He turned the corner into the master bedroom, seeing that Ziva was no longer in their bed caused him pain, he quickly checked the ensuite and upon realising he was alone he checked the room for anything that might give him even the smallest clue as to where Ziva was. He paced the room, back and fourth trying to ascertain where his pregnant wife could be, he'd give anything to have her safe at home, with Nougat still nestled safely in her warm tummy. He paced to the door and furiously slammed him hand against the hard wood work, screaming to try and vent his anger and loss for words.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs called from the entrance of his apartment.

"Yeah Boss, I'm in here." Gibbs and Fornell made their way deeper into his home

"She's missing boss." Tony said as he now sat on the end of his bed rubbing his now incredibly sore hand. "She's not here."

"We're going to find her DiNozzo. You know we are. Ziva and the baby are both going to be alright."

"You don't know that Boss."

"Sure I do, and so do you" He moved slightly away and opened his cell and dialled a number. "McGee, Ziva's missing. Start putting a trace on her, what ever you need to do."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeanne slammed on the breaks. She undid her seat belt then ran around the car to the other side to do the same to Ziva. Wrenching her out of the car, she pulled her into an airplane hanger and into a side room. "Jullien? Jullien?" She yelled, obviously trying to ascertain if her brother was nearby. "Where the hell is he?" She pulled out her phone and dialled. "Jullien, where are you? you told me to meet you here… Well how soon is soon…" She moved away from Ziva and started to talk in a hushed tone, obviously furious at him, she stood in the doorway only occasionally glancing at Ziva to see if she was listening. She was anxious, never having been involved in such criminal activity before. Ziva watched her closely, she held onto her belly protectively. Without taking her eyes of her capturer she carefully pulled her cell out of her jacket pocket. She didn't need to look at it to be able to call Tony. She pressed the required buttons and left her phone where it was. She watched as Jeanne became more and more agitated as she wrestled not only her brother over the phone but her conscience. She wasn't very good at this, she hadn't even tied Ziva up or anything. Jeanne looked at Ziva, and walked out of the room. Ziva could hear her heated conversation so she knew Jeanne was never very far away.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony's phone began to ring. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. "It's Ziva's cell." He flicked the phone open. "Ziva? Ziva? where are you?" He waited for her response but she didn't reply.

Gibbs having heard this continued instruction McGee as to what to do to try to find his Liason Officer.

Tony was concerned that she wasn't speaking, but a little relieved that she'd made some attempt at contact. He'd feel better when he knew how she was, and if their precious Nougat was alright. It was like a shock of lightning ripped through his system when he finally heard her sweet voice whispering to him "Tony, I am at a small airport, in a hanger, the number on the outside said 9. There is a jet that looks like the one we saw in Canada." Tony didn't hesitate to start moving down to his car at this point, with Gibbs and Fornell rushing behind him.

"Ziva, are you alright? Is the baby…" He couldn't finish that thought, he didn't want to. He couldn't bear to loose their child now.

"We are fine for now. It is Jeanne, her brother is behind all of this." In her need to fill Tony in on as many details as she could she hadn't heard a car pull up and the shouting that had been so one sided now had an additional voice. "He is here Tony. I do not know what they are planning."

"Ziva which airport?" he waited only a second, desperate for her answer so he could come in and rescue her. Instead, the voice he heard was not Ziva's. It was a man with a French accent.

"What are you doing?" He bellowed loud enough thatTony could hear. "Jeanne you left her like this? You imbecile." Tony hear a loud slap, followed by Jeanne's unmistakable scream. "Who is this?" He yelled again.

"Ziva?" Tony called in a last ditch effort to keep his wife talking, to try and make sure she was alright, the longer he would be able to hear her voice, the longer he'd know what was going on and have some idea as to how she would be being treated.

"Good work McGee, we'll meet you there." Gibbs said, slamming his phone shut. "I know where she is."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva looked at Jeanne now lying on the floor, blood forming a stream down from her mouth to her chin. She glanced at the man who was now forcing her to walk backwards. She dropped the phone, and the man who she assumed was the elusive Jullien Benoit, trod on it crushing her cell to pieces.

"My sister is a little naïve when it comes to these types of dealings. I apologise for that."

"So you hit her? She is your sister."

"Yes, and just like any employee, she needs to learn... You must be Ziva David. You have helped us out quite considerably. I would like to thank you for that."

"MRS David-DiNozzo"

"Arh yes, you married my sisters…. Well you married Anthony DiNozzo, or as we knew him, Anothony DiNardo."

"And you are the new La Grenouille?"

"Oui, I had been working under my fathers wing for years. I told the old man that he was… headed in the wrong direction" He said as if there was a hint of a private joke behind what he said. "Now, be a good girl and tell me who you were talking to."

"DiNozzo." Their heads both turned, reacting to hearing Jeanne's voice.

"Arh, but of course she was. That is true isn't it my dear?" he asked Ziva.

"Yes, and I would do it again happily."

"and I am sure he is on his way here now." With one quick movement he slapped Ziva across the face and she fell to the ground clutching her belly.

**WOW... long chapter!!! already started on the next chapter. I think you guys will like it.... But hang on... Nah, you don't really want me to post it do you.... Nah... **


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

He turned and walked closer to Jeanne "I should never have brought you into this. Papa was right to not have included you in the family business."

"I helped you, I bought you that blood and the hair, and the glasses."

"You bought me the things that belong to a federal Agent. How did you think this was going to go down Jeanne?"

"She destroyed my life!"

In a mist their argument they hadn't noticed Ziva was clutching her pregnant bludge. "Arh." She cried. Jeanne looked at her. Her water had broken as she tried to slide her body across the floor away from Jeanne and Jullien. She had wanted to remain quiet, the longer they attacked each other the more chance she had to work out what she was going to do.

"Come on Jeanne we need to get out of here." Jullien said attempting to pull her out of the room.

"Jullien, she's in labour. I have to help."

"The feds will be here soon, we don't have time."

"We have to help her."

"Don't be stupid Jeanne." Jeanne broke free from his grip and ran to her.

"Jullien, I need some cloths, We're going to have to keep the babies warm when they come." She turned to look at him but he was gone. Outside the room they could hear the plane engines ready themselves and then move away from the hanger.

Ziva writhed in pain with every contraction. The stress from her abduction had taken it's toll on her body and the babies weren't waiting any longer. Ziva was wishing she was in a hospital with drugs and C-sections at this point, as the pain grew and grew. Nothing she'd ever experienced, not even the worst torture she'd ever endured or probably even dealt out compared to this. She heard several sets of car wheels squealing to a holt outside their little side room. Four men, with guns drawn followed the sound of her torment to where she lay. Tony, offcourse, was the first into the room.

"Get away from her." He yelled running closer, his gun pointed at Jeanne who was crouched in front of his screaming wife.

"Tony!" Ziva wailed.

"She's in labour Tony, the babies are coming." Jeanne yelled to him, not averting her eyes from Ziva. Tony holstered his gun and run to her side.

"Ziva, you okay?" He said, taking her hand.

"No you jerk, I'm having your children!"

"I guess we'll work on that plurals thing later. Gibbs, Call 911."

"It's too late. She's having these babies now."

"What's with the contagious plural syndrome? I mean…."

"ARH." Ziva interrupted him with another scream of pain. "Shut up Tony."

"You need to start pushing Ziva, have you been practicing your breathing?"

"We didn't do the classes, she was meant to have a C-section. I don't know what to do." Tony said concerned.

"I remember." Gibbs volunteered. Tony looked at his boss. He must have remembered lamaze from when Shannon was pregnant with Kelly. Gibbs made a gesture to make sure Tony would be alright if he contributed. Tony nodded and Gibbs sat behind Ziva, supporting her back and showing her how to breath. Tony copied, as did Ziva.

"Ok, well you're going to need to help her Tony, keep her focus, she's going to need you now more then ever."

Tony looked at Jeanne the way he had many times before. Disbelief and bewilderment, more then anything his eyes were grateful. He wondered how through all of this, through all her apparent hatred she'd still managed to be a humanitarian and help Ziva in her time of need. He looked at her. "thank you Jeanne."

"Don't thank me yet. It's not over. Come on Ziva, push. Okay and I can a head. That's a good thing."

"Come on Ziva, you're so strong and amazing. You can do this."

"Tony, take your jacket off."

"What?"

"Your jacket. The baby's nearly here and we're going to want to keep it warm." Tony just about torn his jacket off, he would have done anything in that moment to help. He felt so useless, and helpless.

"Come on Nougat. You're dad wants to meet you, and it's kinda fitting that the first thing you wear is my beautiful designer jacket." He winced at the thought of how much it cost, but only for a second till he was interrupted by the pain his wife was in.

"One more big push should do it."

Tony's heart shattered into a million pieces as he heard Ziva's pain. He'd like to think he'd trade places in a second if it meant he could take away that pain, but knew that he'd never be able to deal with child birth as well as his exotic Israeli goddess.

Suddenly, out of the screams of his wife, he started to hear the cries of a new born baby. He looked down and there was Nougat. A beautiful baby boy. Well maybe not beautiful to anyone else, covered in slime and everything, but to the child's father, he was amazing.

"I Need something to cut the cord." Jeanne stated.

"Rule number 9. Always carry a knife."

"Quick, in my car there is a small medical kit, I have scissors in there and medical wipes to sterilise them. It will make a cleaner cut. Gibbs raced out to the car and fetched the equipment he'd been sent for and hurried back.

"Thank you." Jeanne said taking it and preparing the scissors before cutting it. She patted the baby on it's back, then wrapped him in Tony's jacket handing Nougat to his father.

"Look what you did. Ziva. You made this beautiful baby boy. I'm so proud of you." Ziva looked at the baby, she ran her finger down his face.

"He is so… precious."

"Good work Ziva." Gibbs congratulated her.

"Thank you… ARH."

The men were taken by surprise with her cry. "What's going on? Why is she still in pain?"

"Okay Ziva," Jeanne focused on her. "You can do this, you're a strong woman. Are you ready to go again?"

Ziva knodded. "Yes, I am ready."

"What's going on?" Tony asked confused.

"Do you remember how you wouldn't find anything out about the baby Tony?" Ziva tried to joke as the perspiration ran down her face.

"Yeah."

"Well, you should have thought about that."

"Twins?" he said, almost fainting.

"Yes Tony, I found out yesterday. A shock isn't it."

"and you were going to tell me when?"

**_Ok guys. So there's one chapter left. For a story i was going to make pretty short to finish off this series (I was thinking about 6 chapters- 9 at the MOST) I'm STUNNED I got 24 chapters out of this!!!! Who knows what I"ll do after this. I'll be lost without my make believe world!!!_**


	24. Chapter 24

**_Last chapter. Enjoy._**

Chapter 24

"I do not think that this is the time Tony." Ziva said, the pain starting to well up in her face again. "Arh" he cried.

Tony stood up and walked over to McGee. "I need your jacket McUncle."

"But… why?"

"twins McGee! Hand it over." McGee slid his jacket off and handed it to Tony who took it with one hand, not wanting to disturb the baby too much then, passed Nougat to McGee. "Come on now Nougat, I've got to go back and help your mum. Make sure Uncle Probie doesn't drop you!"

"Very funny Tony." McGee said, hiding his excitement at holding the baby. He gazed into Nougats eyes. "Wow. So you're the little rascal that keeps kicking the Ninja. I think you're the first boy that's ever kicked her without being killed! or at the very least kicked back." He joked, trying to sooth his cries with his rocking and the sound of his voice.

Before McGee had even taken his eyes of Nougat he heard the sounds of a second baby crying, he wondered how long he'd been entranced by this little guy not to have noticed what was going on around him. He looked up to see his jacket being wrapped around a beautiful baby girl.

"Wow. You are amazing Ziva." Tony said, kissing her on her forehead and showing her their baby girl. "How did I get so lucky to have you?"

"And to have them look like their mother." Gibbs commented, smirking. "They are beautiful Ziva."

"Ok, so it's over right? There isn't a third surprise coming is there." Tony asked, not sure that he wanted to know the answer if they said the word triplets.

"No. that is it Tony." Ziva said.

He kissed her again. "Hey, did Abby know about this? Is that why she kept avoiding me? Cos she couldn't have kept a straight face, and when I did see her, she started calling the baby Caramel." Ziva shot him a smile to suggest that he was right.

"She does like her sugar highs." McGee stated.

"You want to hold her?" Tony asked his wife once her breathing has settled.

Ziva took the baby girl, still supported by Leroy Jethro.

Jeanne watched the happy family, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to break the invisible barrier she'd created to hold them back. She listened to their laughs and their loving words, she looked back and fourth at 'Uncle McGee' holding little Nougat, Fornell leaning over his shoulder looking at the baby, and the proud new mother holding her beautiful olive skinned Caramel. Tony who couldn't take his hands off her, and the father figure, Gibbs, still supporting Ziva as she held her baby. She looked at the love in all their eyes, focused on their miracles. This should have been her. Tony should have been fussing over her, not Ziva. this should have been their moment, not someone else's. One tear broke through her barrier and trickled down her cheek. She reached her hand into her jacket pocket and could feel the cold round steel of the gun barrel. She stood up and moved towards Fornell, who had moved to watching this strange, happy, mismatched family from a distance after McGee had crouched down to allow Ziva to see both her children. She casually walked behind him and without raising anyone's suspicions she wrapped one arm around him and pointed the gun at his temple with the other. Tobias was taken aback by the strength in her upper arms, something Tony would have suspected due to his knowledge of her love of rock climbing.

Team Gibbs heard the muffled exasperation from Tobias and turned to examine the commotion. Ziva grabbed her son, protectively cradling a child in each arm, Gibbs protectively clutching to all of them. DiNozzo and McGee pointed their guns at Jeanne, gradually drawing themselves and Jeanne attention away from ZIva and the kids.

"Jeanne? What are you doing?"

"I'm not getting out of this Tony. I did this for you, for us, and now, I can't have you, and I'm probably going to prison," she said as she steadily stepped back, pulling Fornell with her.

"You don't have to do this. You helped Ziva, that's going to work in your favour."

"No. I'm getting out of here, and you're not stopping me Tony. You did this to me, this is all your fault." She slowly backed out of the room

"No it's not Jeanne. You didn't have to do any of this. You don't have to do this."

"I don't have any other Choice." As she became more enraged, her grip around Fornell's neck tightened, constricting his airways. Steams had broken through and were now teaming down her cheeks.

"Yes you do, of course you do."

"What's that Tony? Should I just shoot you?" She moved, still keeping it close to Fornell's head, but pointed it in Tony's direction.

"Don't do it Jeanne. Don't make me do this. Let him go."

"We could have been happy, you ruined everything!"

"Calm down Jeanne."

"This is all your fault... YOURS!" She threw a breathless Fornell to the side. and just pointed the gun at Tony, tears poured down her face. Her voice displayed a sense of desperation that people rarely came back from. A shot rang out, followed by a second. The first flew out of the gun in Jeanne's hand, the bullet speeding through the air towards DiNozzo. The second bullet racing in the opposite direction, piecing Jeanne's forehead. Tony turned and looked at the bullet whole in the wooden beam behind him. He then raced with McGee over to Jeannes lifeless body. They kicked the gun out of the way and checked her. He had killed her. To save himself, and his family, he'd killed a woman he'd once thought he'd loved. He kneeled over her and checked her pulse. In the distance he could hear the sirens from the ambulance to assist his wife and, of course, Nougat and Caramel.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

McGee, and Gibbs sat at their desks flicking between their computer screens and paperwork that sat next to them. Abby walked into the squad room. A coffee tray in one hand with two takeaway coffees, and a caf-pow in the other. She put her caf-pow on Ziva's desk and then handed one coffee to McGee and the other to Gibbs. Gibbs sniffed the coffee making him draw back at the smell, he picked it up walking over to McGee's desk, Tim also sniffed his coffee and scrunched up his noise and swapped it with Gibbs. Abby went and sat behind Ziva's desk and started typing at her computer. It had become a daily ritual since Tony and Ziva had taken leave to sort out parenthood especially since everything they'd bought in preparation, they now needed to double up on. Something tony was not looking forward to becuase i'd found it hard enough to assemble the first cribb. It had been a week since the four of them had left the hospital and the prenatal ward behind them and settled into their own home and bed. Four weeks in total since they'd been into work. There was plenty of computer work Abby could do at a desk and she'd networked Ziva's computer so she had complete access to everything she needed down in her lab. They all sat there doing their work. Without looking Abby reached for her caf-pow, furrowing her eyebrows when she realised she couldn't' find it with just her sense of touch. She looked to the corner of the desk where she'd set it down on her way in. "What the...." She asked herself quietly.

"You must have finished it." Someone whispered behind her.

"No I did not! I…" Finally, Abby clued in. She snapped her neck around and shrieked when she saw Tony waving her caf-pow in his hand and Ziva, as well as Caramel and Nougat. Abby's joyful screams and jumping around drew Gibbs and McGee's attention.

"Tony! Ziva!" Abby squealed in joy. She rushed round to hug them both.

"Hey Abs, kids, you remember Aunty Abby right? she's the reason we're going to have to keep sending you for those hearing tests! Those things on her neck, that's just marker, and you're not getting a tattoo ever!" Tony started, handing Caramel to Abby. "Oh and Nougat, you remember your Uncle Probie, we're going to get him to work on all your homework."

"Very funny DiNozzo," McGee said, taking Nougat into his arms. "You haven't really called them Caramel and Nougat have you?"

"They're always going to be Nougat and Caramel to me." Tony replied.

"Well Tony is fixed on calling Caramel and Nougat, but we completed the birth certificates this morning. This," Ziva said looking at her eldest child formally known as Nougat, as least she hoped he was FORMALLY known as Nougat, though she suspected that Tony wasn't leaving it behind him any time soon, "This is Jordan Todd DiNozzo. And this…" She said looking at her daughter, "is Isabella Jennifer DiNozzo."

"Also known as Caramel and Nougat" Tony joked however this statement was followed by a sharp blow to the back of his head. A much missed but loved Gibbs slap.

**_Hope you all enjoyed Conflict Resolution.  
I'm about to write a bit of Tiva Fluff. Just to get back to basics, (stay tuned it should be up tomorrow sometime).... And from there.... who knows. Please review and tell me how you found the story, and let me know if you want to see what happens next of if you'd like me to start from scratch again. Open to all suggestions. _**

**_Thanks for reading, and thanks to those who keep me motivated by reviewing!!! _**


End file.
